[Mortality in patients with osteolysis of lymphatic origin: a review of the experience with 54 patients and the literature.]

Authors:
Address: Servicio de Cirugía Pediátrica, Hospital Universitario Materno Infantil, Badajoz, España.
Journal:

Publication:

abstract

INTRODUCTION:

osteolysis of lymphatic origin is a rare disease with a high Mortality which is difficult to attribute whether it is due to the disease itself or the therapeutic morbidity. The aim of this study is to review the causes of mortality in our group of patients with osteolysis of lymphatic origin, compared with the group of patients previously reported in the medical literature.

PATIENTS and METHODS:

We reviewed all patients with osteolysis of lymphatic origin and treated in our department who had died in the last 15 years, and we reviewed all published cases of death with this disease since the 1950's.

RESULTS:

A total of 57 patients with osteolysis of lymphatic origin had been studied at our institution, of whom three died, two from sepsis, and one from acute respiratory distress syndrome. All of them suffered severe malnutrition from massive lymphatic loss and 2 had bilateral chylothorax. Among the 51 cases reviewed in the literature between 1954 - 2010, 19 had bilateral chylothorax, 15 had right side involvement and only 2 had an exclusive left chylothorax. Eleven patients had complications, such as respiratory distress and pneumonia. Ten of them suffered from pathological fractures, and 10 from chylopericardium and/or chylous ascites. The most common cause of death was respiratory failure in 25 patients, followed by pneumonia and sepsis. The publications do not specify the ultimate cause of respiratory failure.

CONCLUSIONS:

Patients with severe osteolysis of lymphatic origin suffer three main disorders with overlapping comorbidity: the lymphatic malformation of soft tissue, the bone resorption and the chylothorax. While mortality in the first two is exceptional, the mortality of the chylothorax is common, especially when it is bilateral and does not respond to different therapies. Respiratory failure and infection are aggravated by immunosuppression, malnutrition and the non-restrictive use of central catheters. Unlike respiratory failure, which is difficult to control after the failure of medical and surgical treatment, morbidity from infections can be reduced through careful nutritional support, rational antibiotic prophylaxis and a reduction to a minimum in the use of central catheters and total parenteral nutrition.

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