Minoxidil-induced lung disease, masquerading as hypersensitivity pneumonitis

Daisuke Takekosh; Teruhisa Nemoto; Susumu Saito; Yuma Matsui; Shunsuke Minagawa; Hiromichi Hara; Takanori Numata; Jun Araya; Kazuyoshi Kuwano

doi:10.1016/j.rmcr.2023.101861

Minoxidil-induced lung disease, masquerading as hypersensitivity pneumonitis

Respir Med Case Rep. 2023 Apr 29:43:101861. doi: 10.1016/j.rmcr.2023.101861. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Daisuke Takekosh¹, Teruhisa Nemoto¹, Susumu Saito¹, Yuma Matsui¹, Shunsuke Minagawa¹, Hiromichi Hara¹, Takanori Numata¹, Jun Araya¹, Kazuyoshi Kuwano¹

Affiliation

¹ Division of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Japan.

Abstract

We report the case of a 71-year-old male with essential thrombosis who presented with ground-glass lung opacity with a mosaic pattern on computed tomography, which resolved spontaneously with hospitalization. This was confused with a case of hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP), which later turned out to be a drug-induced lung disease caused by surreptitiously administered minoxidil. This case emphasizes the importance of obtaining a correct medication history to make an accurate diagnosis, and this is the first report of minoxidil causing HP-like pulmonary illness.

Keywords: Drug-induced lung disease; Hypersensitivity pneumonitis; Minoxidil.

Publication types

Case Reports