Acute Amiodarone Pulmonary Toxicity after Drug Holiday: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Amiodarone is reported to cause a wide continuum of serious clinical effects. It is often challenging to detect Amiodarone-induced pulmonary toxicity (AIPT). Typically, the diagnosis is made based on the clinical settings and may be supported by histopathology results, if available. We describe a 57...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ahmed Abuzaid, Marwan Saad, Mohamed Ayan, Amjad Kabach, Toufik Mahfood Haddad, Aiman Smer, Amy Arouni
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2015-01-01
Series:Case Reports in Cardiology
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/927438
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Summary:Amiodarone is reported to cause a wide continuum of serious clinical effects. It is often challenging to detect Amiodarone-induced pulmonary toxicity (AIPT). Typically, the diagnosis is made based on the clinical settings and may be supported by histopathology results, if available. We describe a 57-year-old patient who developed severe rapidly progressive respiratory failure secondary to AIPT with acute bilateral infiltrates and nodular opacities on chest imaging. Interestingly, Amiodarone was discontinued 3 weeks prior to his presentation. He had normal cardiac filling pressures confirmed by echocardiography. To our knowledge, this is the first case of isolated acute lung injury induced by Amiodarone, three weeks after therapy cessation, with adequate clinical improvement after supportive management and high dose steroid therapy.
ISSN:2090-6404
2090-6412