Drug-induced pulmonary disease is lung disease brought on by a bad reaction to a medication.

Many types of lung injury can result from medications, and it is often impossible to predict who will develop lung disease resulting from a medication or drug.

The types of lung diseases that may result from medications include:

• Allergic reactions -- asthma, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, or eosinophilic pneumonia
• Alveolar hemorrhage (bleeding into the lung air sacks)
• Bronchitis
• Drug-induced lupus erythematosus
• Granulomatous lung disease -- a type of tumor in the lungs
• Inflammation of the lung air sacks (pneumonitis or infiltration)
• Interstitial fibrosis
• Lung failure
• Lung vasculitis (inflammation of lung blood vessels)
• Mediastinitis
• Pulmonary edema
• Pleural effusion
• Swollen lymph nodes

Many drugs are known to cause lung disease in some people, including those used during chemotherapy and to treat certain heart conditions. Other drugs known to cause lung disease in some people include certain antibiotics and illicit drugs.

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Respiratory system

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Drug Symptoms

Review Date: 04/16/2009
Reviewed By: David A. Kaufman, MD, Section Chief, Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine, Bridgeport Hospital-Yale New Haven Health System, and Assistant Clinical Professor, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)