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Drug-induced pulmonary disease

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Drug-induced pulmonary disease

Definition:

Drug-induced pulmonary disease is a lung disease caused by an adverse (bad) reaction to a medication.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

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Many types of lung injury can result from medications, and it is often impossible to predict who will develop lung disease resulting from a medication or drug.

The types of lung diseases that may result from medications include:

• Allergic reactions -- asthma, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, or eosinophilic pneumonia
• Coughing or bronchitis
• Inflammation of the lung air sacks (pneumonitis or infiltration)
• Interstitial fibrosis (scarring)
• Pulmonary edema (swelling in the lungs caused by fluid buildup in the tissues)
• Alveolar hemorrhage (bleeding into the lung air sacks)
• Pleural effusion (fluid in the tissues surrounding the lungs)
• Lung vasculitis (inflammation of lung blood vessels)
• Mediastinal inflammation (inflammation of the spaces surrounding the lungs and heart)
• Swollen lymph nodes (lymphadenopathy)
• Respiratory failure
• Granulomatous lung disease -- a type of tumor in the lungs
• Drug-induced lupus erythematosus

Numerous drugs are known to cause lung disease in some people including chemotherapy agents, certain antibiotics, illicit drugs, certain cardiovascular drugs, and many others.

References:

Murray J, Nadel J. Textbook of Respiratory Medicine. 3rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: WB Saunders; 2000. 

Noble J. Textbook of Primary Care Medicine. 3rd ed. St. Louis, Mo: Mosby; 2001.

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