Miliary tuberculosis of the lung in a patient treated with bacillus Calmette-Guerin for superficial bladder cancer

A solitary pulmonary nodule caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis var. BCG after intravesical BCG treatment: a case report

Background

Intravesical instillation of bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) as a treatment for superficial bladder cancer rarely causes pulmonary complications. While published cases have been pathologically characterized by multiple granulomatous lesions due to disseminated infection, no case presenting as a solitary pulmonary nodule has been reported.

Case presentation

A man in his 70 s was treated with intravesical BCG for early-stage bladder cancer. After 1 year, he complained of productive cough with a solitary pulmonary nodule at the left lower lobe of his lung being detected upon chest radiography. His sputum culture result came back positive, with conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) identifying Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. However, tuberculosis antigen-specific interferon-gamma release assay came back negative. Considering a history of intravesical BCG treatment, multiplex PCR was conducted, revealing the strain to be Mycobacterium tuberculosis var. BCG. The patient was then treated with isoniazid, ethambutol, levofloxacin, and para-aminosalicylic acid following an antibiotic susceptibility test showing pyrazinamide resistance, after which the size of nodule gradually decreased.

Conclusion

This case highlights the rare albeit potential radiographic presentation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis var. BCG, showing a solitary pulmonary nodule but not multiple granulomatous lesions, after intravesical BCG treatment. Differentiating Mycobacterium tuberculosis var. BCG from Mycobacterium tuberculosis var. tuberculosis is crucial to determine whether intravesical BCG treatment could be continued for patients with bladder cancer.

Disseminated Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) infection with pulmonary and renal involvement: A rare complication of BCG immunotherapy. A case report and narrative review

Intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) instillation is a mainstay of adjunctive therapy for superficial bladder cancer that increases length of disease progression-free survival. Although usually well tolerated, moderate to severe local and systemic infectious complications can occur with this immunotherapy. Diagnosis is difficult and often based on high clinical suspicion since in many cases Mycobacterium bovis is not isolated. Treatment is not fully standardized but the combination of anti-tuberculosis drugs and corticosteroids is advocated in severe cases. The authors present an unusual case of a severe infectious complication following intravesical BCG instillation with pulmonary and kidney involvement. Prompt anti-tuberculosis treatment associated to corticosteroid resulted in a marked clinical and radiological improvement, supporting the diagnosis of disseminated BCG infection. Based on this, the authors aimed to review the literature on this exceptional complication of this immunotherapy.

Management, and Prevention, of Intravesical Therapy Complications

The urologist must prevent, identify and properly treat the complications of intravesical chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Both local and systemic toxicity of adjuvant intravesical therapy is herein analyzed. Topical toxicity is mainly due to the inflammation induced by the contact between the instilled agent and the bladder mucosa.

Material and Methods

The factors predisposing to topical toxicity must be identified and removed before starting the treatment. The choice of the agent, its dose, concentration and dosage must be tailored, whenever possible, to the presence of the above mentioned factors. Mitomycin and BCG can rarely provoke chronic cystitis, severely compromising bladder function.

Results

The most dangerous complication of early intravesical chemotherapy is the instillation in presence of an unrecognized bladder perforation. Flu-like syndrome, fever, chills, arthralgia are reported in almost 20% of patients receiving BCG. If fever persists for more than 48 hours or exceeds 38.5 °C, isoniazid must be administered and BCG stopped until complete remission. BCG sepsis is a rare but severe complication that must be promptly recognized and treated. If not, a life-threatening multi-organ failure syndrome can arise. Isoniazid and rifampicin, adding ethambutol when required, must be administered for a prolonged period until complete remission.

Conclusions

Granulomatous lesions represent the main other rare systemic complications of BCG therapy. Systemic toxicity of intravesical chemotherapy is rare, due to the high molecular weight of the drugs, limiting systemic absorption.

Miliary Tuberculosis that Developed after Intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guerin Therapy

As a treatment for superficial transitional cell carcinoma, Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) intravesical instillation can rarely cause unpredictable systemic side effects. We describe a patient admitted due to continuous pyrexia and general fatigue. He was previously treated with intravesical BCG. Laboratory data indicated a hepatic disorder, and chest computed tomography revealed extensive bilateral miliary nodules. Transbronchial lung biopsy specimens showed several small noncaseating granulomas. The diagnosis was unsolved on the basis of acid fast staining, polymerase chain reaction and microbiological cultures, so we considered the possibility of BCG side effect-induced granuloma. Two months after treatment with antituberculous agents and corticosteroids, his clinical symptoms were improved.

Intravesical BCG therapy as cause of miliary pulmonary tuberculosis

Immunotherapy with intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is considered the most effective adjuvant to endoscopic resection of bladder urothelial carcinoma in the therapeutic management of non-muscle invasive (NMIBC) at intermediate and high risk of recurrence and progression (pTa - pT1 and high-grade carcinoma in situ, CIS). Despite its proven efficacy, this type of treatment can determine local and systemic side effects of moderate or severe gravity, with the histological diagnosis of epithelioid granulomas in different organs, even in the absence of microbiological positivity of BCG. The immunotherapy with BCG is usually well tolerated and the virulence of the attenuated BCG is very low in immuno-competent patients, although only 16% of patients are able to receive all the instillations of the maintenance period (3 years) of treatment provided by the protocols, precisely because of side effects. Minor side effects usually resolve within a few hours or days. They develop in 3-5% of patients and usually consist of local infectious complications. Manifestations of BCG dissemination, such as vascular and ocular complications, are much less common, while BCG-disseminated infections, with granulomatous pneumonia or hepatitis present, are quite rare, representing 0.5-2% of the complications recorded. We present the clinical case of granulomatous lung and possibly liver infection caused by BCG in a patient aged 56 years being treated for several weeks with intravesical BCG for NIMBC pT1 high grade associated with CIS.

Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) infection following intravesical BCG administration as adjunctive therapy for bladder cancer: incidence, risk factors, and outcome in a single-institution series and review of the literature

Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is the most effective intravesical immunotherapy for superficial bladder cancer. Although generally well tolerated, BCG-related infectious complications may occur following instillation. Much of the current knowledge about this complication comes from single case reports, with heterogeneous diagnostic and therapeutic approaches and no investigation on risk factors for its occurrence. We retrospectively analyzed 256 patients treated with intravesical BCG in our institution during a 6-year period, with a minimum follow-up of 6 months after the last instillation. We also conducted a comprehensive review and pooled analysis of additional cases reported in the literature since 1975. Eleven patients (4.3%) developed systemic BCG infection in our institution, with miliary tuberculosis as the most common form (6 cases). A 3-drug antituberculosis regimen was initiated in all but 1 patient, with a favorable outcome in 9/10 cases. There were no significant differences in the mean number of transurethral resections prior to the first instillation, the time interval between both procedures, the overall mean number of instillations, or the presence of underlying immunosuppression between patients with or without BCG infection. We included 282 patients in the pooled analysis (271 from the literature and 11 from our institution). Disseminated (34.4%), genitourinary (23.4%), and osteomuscular (19.9%) infections were the most common presentations of disease. Specimens for microbiologic diagnosis were obtained in 87.2% of cases, and the diagnostic performances for acid-fast staining, conventional culture, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assays were 25.3%, 40.9%, and 41.8%, respectively. Most patients (82.5%) received antituberculosis therapy for a median of 6.0 (interquartile range: 4.0-9.0) months. Patients with disseminated infection more commonly received antituberculosis therapy and adjuvant corticosteroids, whereas those with reactive arthritis were frequently treated only with nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (p < 0.001 for all comparisons). Attributable mortality was higher for patients aged ≥65 years (7.4% vs 2.1%; p = 0.091) and those with disseminated infection (9.9% vs 3.0%; p = 0.040) and vascular involvement (16.7% vs 4.6%; p = 0.064). The scheduled BCG regimen was resumed in only 2 of 36 patients with available data (5.6%), with an uneventful outcome. In the absence of an apparent predictor of the development of disseminated BCG infection after intravesical therapy, and considering the protean variety of clinical manifestations, it is essential to keep a high index of suspicion to initiate adequate therapy promptly and to evaluate carefully the risk-benefit balance of resuming intravesical BCG immunotherapy.

Subclinical miliary Mycobacterium bovis following BCG immunotherapy for transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder

The authors present an unusual case of a 51-year-old man who developed relatively mild non-specific symptoms following intravesical BCG instillation for superficial transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder, with radiological investigations demonstrating typical features of miliary tuberculosis (TB). Transbronchial biopsy showed small foci of poorly formed granuloma suggestive of Mycobacterium infection. The patient's respiratory symptoms only became apparent 7 days after discharge having had 4 weeks of unremarkable inpatient stay where he remained clinically well. Prompt anti-TB treatment resulted in a remarkable improvement in his symptoms and radiological appearance, supporting the diagnosis of disseminated Mycobacterium bovis infection. This case highlights the importance of recognising miliary M bovis as a potential complication in patients receiving BCG immunotherapy, and that the disease course can be subclinical with delayed onset of symptoms.

Miliary pulmonary tuberculosis following intravesical BCG therapy: case report and literature review

Miliary tuberculosis after intravesical Calmette-Guerin bacilli (BCG) therapy is rare. To date, only 23 cases have been reported. We describe the case of a patient on hemodialysis, review the literature, and call attention to the potential hazard of intravesical BCG therapy in patients on renal replacement therapy and the value of polymerase chain reaction-based methods for early diagnosis of this serious complication.

[Miliary tuberculosis in a patient treated with BCG intravesical instillation]

Intravesical instillation of bacillus Calmette-Guérin is the elective treatment for transitional cell and in situ bladder carcinoma. Severe complications occur very seldom but must be known and promptly recognized. We present a case of miliary tuberculosis reactivation secondary to the mentioned treatment.

Cutaneous mycobacterial infection post intravesical BCG installation

Disseminated tuberculous lesions post intravesical BCG therapy are rare but need to be identified and treated quickly. We report the first case of a tuberculous cutaneous lesion in a patient receiving the above treatment.