[Interstitial pneumonia in children with malignancies during cytotoxic therapie. Clinical picture, analysis of promoting factors, and detailed discussion of etiology (author's transl)].

This communication documents a study of 35 patients with systemic malignant diseases between 1964 and 1973. All these patients developed interstitial pneumonia (int.pn.), and in two cases recurrence of int.pn. was observed after several months. Of these 35 patients 29 were diagnosed of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). In particular the occurrence of int.pn. was very frequently noticed under the more aggressive therapeutic regimes mentioned in the Memphis protocol VII. The statistical analysis revealed that the most critical period of occurrence is between 8 and 11 weeks after the induction therapy or 6-9 weeks after the reinduction or relapse therapy. These observations indicate the dependency of this disease during the intensive phase of therapy. The prognosis of int.pn. was improved significantly after the pentamidine treatment. The etiology of the int.pn. is discussed in detail. The post mortem examination of 6 patients revealed that 5 of them had pneumocystes carinii.