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Pulmonary Sequelae of Acute Legionnaires' Disease Pneumonia
- JOHN A. BLACKMON, M.D.;
- RUSSELL A. HARLEY, M.D.;
- MARTIN D. HICKLIN, M.D.; and
- FRANCIS W. CHANDLER, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Abstract
Patients with acute Legionnaires' disease (LD) pneumonia may have persistent chronic pulmonary changes, as shown by the histologic appearance of specimens of lung from patients who had survived and autopsy specimens from patients who died after a protracted clinical course. Acute pneumonia was not seen in these lungs, and LD organisms could not be identified by the direct fluorescent antibody technique or the Dieterle silver impregnation strain; instead, there was organizing pneumonia with various degrees of interstitial inflammation and fibrosis. The LD pneumonia may fail to resolve, and the lung parenchyma in areas of previous acute inflammation is not restored to normal in some patients.
Article and Author Information
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▸From the Pathology Division, Bureau of Laboratories, Center for Disease Control, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Atlanta, Georgia; and the Department of Pathology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina.
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▸Requests for reprints should be addressed to Francis W. Chandler, D.V.M.; Pathology Division, Bureau of Laboratories, Center for Disease Control, Building 1, Room 2301; Atlanta, GA 30333.
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- Received November 15, 1978.
- Accepted January 8, 1979.
