Successful control of intestinal bleeding from metastasis of pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma with pembrolizumab: A case report.

RATIONALE: Pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma is a rare tumor with a poor prognosis and has no standard chemotherapy. We herein report a case of small intestinal metastasis of pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma that resulted in intestinal bleeding and was successfully treated with pembrolizumab monotherapy. PATIENT CONCERNS: A 54-year-old man with a history of pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma resection was referred to our hospital due to a 1-month history of a fever and general fatigue. DIAGNOSIS: Laboratory investigation revealed microcytic anemia. Hematochezia was also noted after admission. Computed tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography (PET)/CT at the time of this admission revealed intraperitoneal masses alongside the small intestine with no significant ascites. INTERVENTIONS: Pembrolizumab (400 mg/body) was introduced as the first-line chemotherapy. OUTCOMES: By the 15th day after the initial pembrolizumab administration, the fever had disappeared, and the intraperitoneal masses were markedly reduced. Hematochezia had also disappeared, and he no longer needed to receive blood transfusions. LESSONS: To our knowledge, this is the first report in which small intestinal metastasis of pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma was successfully controlled by pembrolizumab monotherapy. Immune checkpoint inhibitors may be promising therapeutic agents against pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma.

Analysis of predicted factors for bronchoalveolar lavage recovery failure: An observational study.

BACKGROUND: The bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) recovery rate should generally be more than 30% for effective diagnosis. However, there have been no reports investigating a target bronchus for BAL, and the cause of BAL recovery failure is uncertain. Therefore, this study detected predictive factors for BAL recovery failure through investigations on a target bronchus for BAL by using a 3D image analysis system. Therefore, this study detected predictive factors for BAL recovery failure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively collected data from 338 adult patients who underwent BAL procedures at Fukujuji Hospital from June 2018-March 2022. Factors correlated with the BAL recovery rate were detected. Furthermore, the patients were divided into the failure group (recovery rate <30%; 36 patients) and the success group (recovery rate ≥30%; 302 patients), and data were compared between the two groups by analysing the target bronchus by using a 3D image analysis system. RESULTS: The patients in the failure group were older (median 74.5 years old [IQR 68.0-79.0] vs. median 70.0 years old [IQR 59.0-76.0], p = 0.016), more likely to be male (n = 27 [75.0%] vs. n = 172 [57.0%], p = 0.048), more likely to have COPD (n = 7 [19.4%] vs. n = 14 [4.6%], p = 0.003), and more likely to perform a target site of BAL other than the middle/lingual lobe (n = 11 [30.5%] vs. n = 35 [11.6%], p = 0.004) than those in the success group. The area of the bronchial wall was positively related to the recovery rate (r = 0.141, p = 0.009), and the area of the bronchial wall in the failure group was lower than that in the success group (median 10.5 mm2 [interquartile range (IQR) 8.1-14.6] vs. median 14.5 mm2 [11.4-19.0], p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The study shows that a thin bronchial wall, COPD, and a target site of BAL other than the middle/lingual lobe were identified as the predicted factors for BAL recovery failure. The weakness of the bronchial wall might cause bronchial collapse during the BAL procedure.