Organizing pneumonia secondary to influenza infection: Two case reports and a literature review.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Organizing pneumonia (OP) is a rare complication of influenza virus infection but scarce data are available. The recognition of this entity is important because require appropriate treatment. METHODS: We report two cases and perform a systematic review on PubMed database. Only cases with histological confirmation of OP and influenza virus positive laboratory test were included. RESULTS: We collected 16 patients. Median age was 52 year, 20% of patients were smokers and 43.8% had not any comorbidity. Influenza A virus infection was diagnosed in 75%. Clinical manifestation consisted on a respiratory deterioration with a median time of appearance of 14 days. Radiological pattern observed was ground-glass opacities with consolidations. Survival was observed in 12 patients (75%). All three patients who did not receive steroid treatment died. CONCLUSION: Physicians must be aware that patients with influenza infection with a torpid course could be developing OP and prompt corticoid therapy should be instaured.