Adembenemende bijwerkingen van medicamenten

- Three patients, men aged 65 and 49 and a woman of 38 years, presented with drug-induced interstitial pneumonitis due to nilutamide, bleomycin and nitrofurantoin usage respectively. The signs and symptoms of drug-induced interstitial pneumonitis occur from within several hours up to months or years after the start of treatment, and sometimes even after the cessation of treatment, and consist of a dry cough, dyspnoea, fever and crackles upon auscultation. The results of further investigations are atypical and consist of abnormalities on the X-ray or CT of the thorax and lymphocytosis in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. The mechanisms of damage usually include direct pulmonary toxicity and indirect inflammatory or immunological processes. In most patients, the pulmonary abnormalities disappear after cessation of the drug treatment. Sometimes the disease progresses to pulmonary fibrosis and respiratory failure despite treatment with corticosteroids.