Korean J Dermatol.  2013 Sep;51(9):709-712.

Interstitial Lung Disease That Occurred during Treatment with Etanercept (Enbrel(R)) of Psoriasis Patients

• Park SB
• Kim HR
• Im M
• Lee Y
• Seo YJ
• Lee JH

Abstract

Etanercept is widely used to treat autoimmune rheumatic, digestive, and dermatologic diseases such as psoriasis. It acts as a competitive inhibitor of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and has acceptable safety and tolerability profiles. However, patients occasionally experience serious adverse effects such as infection, malignancy, cardiovascular events, and pulmonary disease. A 43-year-old man with a 10-year history of psoriasis presented with cough and exertional dyspnea that had developed 4 months after the initial etanercept administration. His symptoms continued to aggravate, and chest radiography and high-resolution computed tomography showed a diffuse reticulonodular infiltrate and ground-glass attenuation. As these clinical and radiologic findings suggested drug induced interstitial lung disease, we withdrew etanercept and initiated oral prednisolone treatment. The patient showed gradual improvement of the disease. Interstitial lung disease, although rare, is a potentially fatal adverse effect of TNF-alpha inhibitor treatment. Therefore, we recommend considering the possibility of interstitial lung disease in patients suffering from pulmonary symptoms who are taking TNF-alpha inhibitors.

Keyword

Etanercept; Interstitial lung disease; Psoriasis

MeSH Terms

Adult
Cough
Dyspnea
Humans
Immunoglobulin G
Lung Diseases
Lung Diseases, Interstitial
Prednisolone
Psoriasis
Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor
Stress, Psychological
Thorax
Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
Etanercept
Immunoglobulin G
Prednisolone
Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor
Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha