Eosinophilic pneumonia: A rare manifestation of amiodarone toxicity diagnosed using traditional bronchoscopy

Alexis LeVee; Megan Trieu; Sarathi Bhattacharyya; Gurveen Sandhu

doi:10.1016/j.rmcr.2019.100856

Eosinophilic pneumonia: A rare manifestation of amiodarone toxicity diagnosed using traditional bronchoscopy

Respir Med Case Rep. 2019 May 15:27:100856. doi: 10.1016/j.rmcr.2019.100856. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Alexis LeVee¹, Megan Trieu², Sarathi Bhattacharyya², Gurveen Sandhu²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
² Department of Medicine, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Abstract

Amiodarone is an antiarrhythmic agent used primarily to treat atrial and ventricular arrhythmias. However, the drug also has many adverse effects, including pulmonary toxicity, and a wide range of pulmonary diseases have been reported. Amiodarone-induced eosinophilic pneumonia is a relatively rare adverse effect with an incidence ranging between 5 and 13% [1]. The majority of cases have been diagnosed with lung biopsy, with only one prior reported case diagnosed by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) [2]. This report describes the second documented case of amiodarone-induced eosinophilic pneumonia diagnosed by eosinophilia on BAL cytology. In this case, complete cessation of symptoms occurred after discontinuation of amiodarone and treatment with corticosteroids. An updated review of the literature of amiodarone-induced eosinophilic pneumonia is also detailed.

Keywords: Adverse effects; Amiodarone; Eosinophilic; Pneumonia; Toxicity.

Publication types

Case Reports