Pulmonary Drug Toxicity

Venlafaxine is a new antidepressant that inhibits reuptake of both serotonin and nonrepinephrine. Drent and colleagues described two patients who developed both interstitial pneumonia and cardiac failure shortly after initiation of treatment with venlafaxine. The first patient recovered completely after withdrawal of venlafaxine and on being treated with glucocorticoids. The second patient died from multiorgan failure; the temporal relationship, pattern on computed tomography, and organizing pneumonia on autopsy were consistent with drug-induced infiltrative lung disease. The authors conclude that the new antidepressant, venlafaxine, can cause both pneumonitis and heart failure.

Interferon- ${gamma}$ has been proposed as treatment for IPF. Honore and coworkers described four patients who developed new pulmonary opacities after being treated with interferon- ${gamma}$ . The patients had advanced IPF; no other cause of deterioration was found. Refractory hypoxemia led to death in three patients and the fourth patient underwent lung transplantation. Pathology revealed diffuse alveolar damage with preexisting usual interstitial pneumonia. The authors conclude that interferon- ${gamma}$ can induce acute respiratory failure in patients with end-stage IPF. An editorial commentary by Selman accompanies this article.

Citations 1-3 of 3 total displayed.

A Dark Side of Interferon- ${gamma}$ in the Treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis?

Moisés Selman
Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 167: 945-946. [Full text]

Acute Respiratory Failure after Interferon- ${gamma}$ Therapy of End-Stage Pulmonary Fibrosis

Isabelle Honoré, Hilario Nunes, Odile Groussard, Marianne Kambouchner, Arnaud Chambellan, Michel Aubier, Dominique Valeyre, and Bruno Crestani
Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 167: 953-957. [Abstract] [Full text]

Drug-induced Pneumonitis and Heart Failure Simultaneously Associated with Venlafaxine

Marjolein Drent, Suveer Singh, Anton P. M. Gorgels, David M. Hansell, Otto Bekers, Andrew G. Nicholson, Robert Jan van Suylen, and Roland M. du Bois
Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 167: 958-961. [Abstract] [Full text]

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