Korean Circ J.  2013 Oct;43(10):699-701. 10.4070/kcj.2013.43.10.699.

Very Early Onset of Amiodarone-Induced Pulmonary Toxicity

• Lee W
• Ryu DR
• Han SS
• Ryu SW
• Cho BR
• Kwon H
• Kim BR

• KMID: 1826562
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4070/kcj.2013.43.10.699

Abstract

Amiodarone is a widely used antiarrhythmic agent. Among its various adverse effects, amiodarone-induced pulmonary toxicity (APT) is the most life threatening complication, which has been described mostly in patients who have been in treatment with high accumulative doses for a long duration of time. However, amiodarone therapy in short-term duration induced APT was rarely reported. We describe a case of a 54-year-old man who is presented with symptoms of APT after a few days of therapy for post-myocardial infarction ventricular tachycardia. For early diagnosis and successful treatment, awareness and high suspicion of this rare type of early onset APT is crucial in patients with amiodarone therapy.

Keyword

Amiodarone; Drug toxicity; Myocardial infarctions; Arrhythmias, cardiac

MeSH Terms

Amiodarone
Arrhythmias, Cardiac
Drug Toxicity*
Early Diagnosis
Humans
Infarction
Middle Aged
Myocardial Infarction
Tachycardia, Ventricular
Amiodarone

Figure

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  Fig. 1 A: the initial chest X-ray study shows no active lung lesion. B: the follow-up chest X-ray study showed bilateral alveolar and interstitial infiltration. C: the high resolution computed tomography scan of the lung shows bilateral patchy infiltrations with ground glass opacity. D: three months after discharge, the chest X-ray study shows resolution of bilateral infiltration.

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  Fig. 2 Bronchoalveolar lavage reveals foamy macrophages (Wright-Giemsa stain, magnification ×1000).

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