Piperacillin-associated pulmonary infiltrates with eosinophilia: a case report

Risk of drug-induced interstitial lung disease in hospitalised patients: a nested case-control study

INTRODUCTION

Information on drug-induced interstitial lung disease (DILD) is limited due to its low incidence. This study investigated the frequencies of drug categories with potential risk in patients developing DILD during hospitalisation and analysed the risk of developing DILD associated with each of these drugs.

METHODS

Using a Japanese national inpatient database, we identified patients without interstitial pneumonia on admission who developed DILD and required corticosteroid therapy during hospitalisation from July 2010 to March 2016. We conducted a nested case-control study; four controls from the entire non-DILD patient cohort were matched to each DILD case on age, sex, main diagnosis, admission year and hospital. We defined 42 classified categories of drugs with 216 generic names as drugs with potential risk of DILD, and we identified the use of these drugs during hospitalisation for each patient. We analysed the association between each drug category and DILD development using conditional logistic regression analyses.

RESULTS

We retrospectively identified 2342 patients who developed DILD. After one-to-four case-control matching, 1541 case patients were matched with 5677 control patients. Six drug categories were significantly associated with the increased occurrence of DILD. These included epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors (OR: 16.84, 95% CI 9.32 to 30.41) and class III antiarrhythmic drugs (OR: 7.01, 95% CI 3.86 to 12.73). Statins were associated with reduced risk of DILD (OR: 0.68, 95% CI 0.50 to 0.92).

CONCLUSIONS

We demonstrated significant associations between various drug categories and DILD. Our findings provide useful information on drug categories with potential risk to help physicians prevent and treat DILD.

Undetected Causes of Death in Hospitalized Elderly with COVID-19: Lessons from Autopsy

Background: Mechanisms and causes of death in older patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection are still poorly understood. Methods: We conducted in a retrospective monocentric study, a clinical chart review and post-mortem examination of patients aged 75 years and older hospitalized in acute care and positive for SARS-CoV-2. Full body autopsy and correlation with clinical findings and suspected causes of death were done. Results: Autopsies were performed in 12 patients (median age 85 years; median of 4 comorbidities, mainly hypertension and cardiovascular disease). All cases showed exudative or proliferative phases of alveolar damage and/or a pattern of organizing pneumonia. Causes of death were concordant in 6 cases (50%), and undetected diagnoses were found in 6. Five patients died from hypoxemic respiratory failure due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), five had another associated diagnosis and two died from alternative causes. Deaths that occurred in the second week were related to SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia whereas those occurring earlier were related mainly to heart failure and those occurring later to complications. Conclusions: Although COVID-19 hypoxemic respiratory failure was the most common cause of death, post-mortem pathological examination revealed that acute decompensation from chronic comorbidities during the first week of COVID-19 and complications in the third week contributed to mortality.

A combination of predispositions and exposures as responsible for acute eosinophilic pneumonia

BACKGROUND

Acute eosinophilic pneumonia (AEP) is a rare febrile illness which is characterized by respiratory failure and often requires mechanical ventilation. The causes and sequence of events of this disease at a biochemical and histological level remain largely unknown. In this article we report the exceptional case, possibly unique, of a patient who developed AEP and three pneumothoraces within less than one month during her hospitalization.

CASE PRESENTATION

A 39-year-old German woman was admitted to our hospital for a laparoscopy-assisted vaginal hysterectomy under general anaesthesia. The surgical intervention was followed by peritonitis in the early postoperative course. Following anaesthesia induction with propofol/midazolam and during the prolonged therapy with several broad-spectrum antibiotics, she developed AEP and three spontaneous (one left-sided and two right-sided) pneumothoraces, the latter ones observed in quick succession. Symptoms, laboratory markers, and chest radiology significantly improved after a one-day treatment with methylprednisolone.

CONCLUSIONS

On the whole, these pathological occurrences, together with similar cases reported in literature, can support the conclusion of possible predisposing genetic factors at the lung tissue level of AEP patients, a view that might shed new light on the pathogenesis of this disease. To provide a coherent pattern that explains the reported evidence for AEP and pneumothoraces, independently from the causative stimulus, the supposed molecular mutations could be localized in the connective tissue rather than in the epithelial cells. In order to interpret clinical and laboratory evidence, as well as to support the main conclusions, the important part of scientific research here presented can also assist physicians in making more informed decisions for the treatment of patients with pulmonary infiltrates.

Chronic eosinophilic pneumonia due to radiographic contrast administration: an orphan disease?

Pulmonary eosinophilia comprises a heterogeneous group of diseases that are defined by eosinophilia in pulmonary infiltrates or in tissue. Drugs can cause almost all histopathologic patterns of interstitial pneumonias, such as cellular and fibrotic nonspecific interstitial pneumonia, pulmonary infiltrates and eosinophilia, organizing pneumonia, lymphocytic interstitial pneumonia, desquamative interstitial pneumonia, a pulmonary granulomatosis-like reaction, and a usual interstitial pneumonia-like pattern. We present a very rare case of chronic eosinophilic pneumonia due to radiographic contrast infusion diagnosed with video-assisted thoracoscopy. The patient after 1 year is still under corticosteroid treatment with the disease stabilized.