Utility of flexible bronchoscopy with polymerase chain reaction in the diagnosis and management of pulmonary infiltrates in allogeneic HSCT patients

ObjectivesPulmonary infiltrates in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (allo-HSCT) patients are potentially life-threatening and require early diagnosis and treatment. We aimed to retrospectively explore the clinical efficacy of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in conjunction with flexible bronchoscopy (FB) in allo-HSCT patients with pulmonary infiltrates. Patients and methodsWe retrospectively reviewed all patients undergoing FB after allo-HSCT at the Peking University Institute of Hematology from January 2013 to December 2016. We used PCR to detect various viruses in FB specimens, particularly for 27 viruses. ResultsOne hundred forty-nine diagnostic FBs were performed in 130 patients. The overall diagnostic yield was 58%. Eighty-nine percent of the patients with a positive FB result were diagnosed with a pulmonary infection. Viruses were the most common infectious diagnosis (70%), followed by fungi (48%), bacteria (38%), and Pneumocystis jirovecii (12%). Multivariate analyses showed that a chest computed tomography (CT) finding of diffuse pulmonary infiltrates (P=.012) and positive results in assisted microbiological and serological analyses (P=.000) predicted a positive FB result. FB results prompted a treatment modification in 61% of cases. ConclusionsFB in conjunction with PCR is efficient in the rapid diagnosis and management of pulmonary infiltrates in allo-HSCT patients.