Tuberc Respir Dis.  2011 Dec;71(6):470-475.

A Case of Interstitial Pneumonitis with Acute Live Injury Caused by Herbal Medicine Made from Golden Thread

• Jhun BW
• Kim DM
• Park JH
• Jung H
• Song L
• Han J
• Chung MP

Abstract

So far more than 350 drugs have been reported to be the cause for lung injury and the incidence tends to increase. Although infiltrative lung disease is the most common pattern of drug-induced lung injury, it can appear in the form of alveolar changes, vasculitis and other injury. Herbal medicine also has been known as a cause for interstitial pneumonitis, but it is difficult to identify the key herbal medicine because of the complex components of the contents. Till date, there is no report of pneumonitis caused by golden thread. Here we report a case of a 54-year-old male who developed interstitial pneumonitis with acute liver injury caused by herbal medicine made from golden thread.

Keyword

Lung Diseases, Interstitial; Herbal Medicine; Drugs, Chinese Herbal

MeSH Terms

Drugs, Chinese Herbal
Herbal Medicine
Humans
Incidence
Liver
Lung Diseases
Lung Diseases, Interstitial
Lung Injury
Male
Middle Aged
Pneumonia
Vasculitis
Drugs, Chinese Herbal

Figure

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  Figure 1 Posteroanterior chest radiograph shows diffuse ground-glass opacity in the bilateral lower lung zones at admission.

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  Figure 2 Chest computed tomography shows diffuse ground glass opacity in both lung zones. Peribronchial consolidative lesions were observed in the right middle lobe and both the lower lung zones.

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  Figure 3 Abdominal and pelvic computed tomography shows a 1.2 cm low-attenuated lesion in S3 of the liver.

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  Figure 4 Microscopic findings of video-assisted thoracopscopic surgery biopsy shows patchy lymphocytic infiltration around the bronchiole and small pulmonary vessels. Small areas of subpleural fibrosis, and intraalveolar macrophages aggregation were observed (hematoxylin and eosin stain; A, ×100; B, ×400).

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  Figure 5 Microscopic findings of video-assisted thoracopscopic surgery biopsy shows many pigmented intraalveolar macrophages, peribronchial inflammation and patchy parenchymal and subpleural irregular fibrosis with lymphocytic infiltration (hematoxylin and eosin stain; A, ×100; B, ×400).

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  Figure 6 Posteroanterior chest radiograph taken after 6 months shows a normal finding on both the lung fields after steroid treatment.

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