Amiodarone Induced Pneumonitis: A Case Report

Amiodarone is a classic example of a cardiovascular drug that causes pulmonary toxicity. Amiodarone-induced pulmonary toxicity (APT) occurs in approximately 5%-10% of patients, usually within months of starting therapy. The risk of APT is increased if the daily maintenance dose is greater than 400 mg and if the patient is elderly. Mortality due to APT is as high as 20%-30%. Since the first manifestation may be an abnormal finding on the chest radiograph, it may be necessary to perform chest radiography every three months for the first year after the initiation of amiodarone therapy. It is imperative that the history of amiodarone administration should be available and that the radiologist become aware of this entity. They are quite common but seldom reported in Taiwan, thus we report a case of amiodarone induced pneumonitis in our institution.