Pneumomediastinum, subcutaneous emphysema, and pulmonary fibrosis in a patient with idiopathic pneumonia syndrome after bone marrow transplantation.

An adolescent female underwent bone marrow transplantation for relapsed leukemia and developed acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease and idiopathic pneumonia syndrome. Her lung disease responded In large doses of methylprednisolone but evolved to pulmonary fibrosis and pneumomediastinum and subcutaneous emphysema in the convalescent period. Pulmonary function tests revealed a restrictive pattern. Pneumomediastinum and subcutaneous emphysema are complications not only of obstructive but also of restrictive lung disease and vary with respect to time of onset.