Drug-Induced/Iatrogenic Respiratory Disease: With Emphasis on Unusual, Rare, and Emergent Drug-Induced Reactions

Abstract

Drugs have been known to cause adverse respiratory reactions since at least 1880, when Sir William Osler published an autopsy report of a fatal case of opioid-related alveolar edema [1, 2]. Since then, the literature on iatrogenic and drug-induced respiratory disease has expanded to over 30,700 Medline searchable articles. Therapeutic drugs, substances of abuse, contrast media, chemicals (solid, liquid, or gases), solvents, household compounds, waterproofing agents, air conditioner fluid, glue, irradiation, and medical, imaging or surgical procedures can all cause respiratory injury (Tables 42.1 and 42.2). To date, 1650 drugs, chemicals, agents, and procedures (up from 920 listed in the last edition of this chapter) can cause injury in the form of any of the 784 clinical, imaging, bronchoalveolar, and histopathologic patterns of involvement identified so far. Since 1997, drugs, patterns of injury, and the specific literature are indexed in Pneumotox, a set of daily updated web service and Apps [3, 4] (Table 42.3, Figs. 42.1, 42.2, 42.3, 42.4, 42.5, and 42.6).