[Occurrence of organizing pneumonia after radiation therapy for postoperative breast cancer].

Three cases of organizing pneumonia (OP) that occurred after planned radiation therapy for postoperative breast cancer are reported. All patients received tangential radiation therapy and adjuvant tamoxifen (TAM) for postoperative breast cancer. Two patients developed fever and cough; one was asymptomatic. Chest radiography and computed tomography demonstrated peripheral alveolar opacities outside the radiation field. Bronchoalveolar lavage showed an elevated total cell count with a high percentage of lymphocytes, as well as elevated eosinophil levels in two cases. Transbronchial lung biopsy revealed a histologic pattern consistent with organizing pneumonia. For the two symptomatic cases, treatment with corticosteroids reduced clinical symptoms promptly and improved imaging findings. The single asymptomatic case improved without treatment. The number of such reported cases has increased in recent years, but the etiology is unclear. In the three cases presented, TAM combined with radiation therapy may have been the cause of the OP.

Successful treatment of refractory cardiac tamponade due to rheumatoid arthritis using pericardial drainage.

Rheumatoid pericarditis occurs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, cardiac tamponade due to rheumatoid pericarditis is rare; we describe a case of a 72-year-old man with a 6-year history of rheumatoid arthritis who developed rheumatoid pericarditis with recurrent cardiac tamponade. The patient experienced relapse of the cardiac tamponade despite treatment with pericardiocentesis. Therefore, the patient underwent surgical pericardial drainage. The patient was also subsequently treated with increasing doses of corticosteroid, methotrexate and leukocytapheresis. These treatments resulted in a successful outcome without any complication. This case suggests that in addition to immunosuppressive therapy, pericardial drainage should be considered in the treatment of life-threatening refractory cardiac tamponade caused by rheumatoid arthritis.