Organizing Pneumonia in a Case of cold Agglutinin Disease with Pulmonary Thrombosis

Intern Med. 2023 Nov 13. doi: 10.2169/internalmedicine.2368-23. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

Cold agglutinin disease is a subtype of autoimmune hemolytic anemia that occurs via the activation of specific anti-red blood cell antibodies (agglutinins) at low temperatures. Autoimmune hemolytic anemia has been reported to cause interstitial pneumonia; however, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. We herein report a 46-year-old man diagnosed with cold agglutinin disease complicated by pulmonary thrombosis and organizing pneumonia. Treatment with prednisolone improved the course of cold agglutinin disease and organizing pneumonia in a similar manner. To our knowledge, this is the first report of cold agglutinin associated with organizing pneumonia, suggesting a potential link between the two.

Keywords: air space consolidation; autoimmune hemolytic anemia; direct Coombs test; haptoglobin; interstitial pneumonia; kappa light chain.