Abstract
Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) immunotherapy is an important advance in the management of superficial and in-situ transitional-cell carcinoma of the bladder. The advantages of treatment with BCG clearly outweigh the risks: all many as 80% of patients will have complete, long-term elimination of tumor cells, while fewer than 5% will have other than minor adverse reactions to the treatment. We describe a 37-year-old man who underwent 2 courses of BCG treatment for superficial carcinoma of the bladder. The second course was complicated by trauma to the bladder. He developed fever, hepatitis, pneumonitis and pancytopenia, a clinical syndrome referred to as 'BCGitis'. Treatment with antimycobacterial drugs accompanied by steroids led to recovery.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 541-543+616 |
Journal | Harefuah |
Volume | 131 |
Issue number | 12 |
State | Published - 1996 |