Drug-induced lung injury

Lung injury is an increasing cause of morbidity and mortality in patients treated with cytotoxic and noncytotoxic drugs. Prompt diagnosis is important because early drug-induced lung injury will often regress with the cessation of therapy. Diagnosis requires a high index of suspicion because infection, radiation pneumonitis, and recurrence of the underlying disease can manifest clinically and radiologically in a similar manner. Because the lungs have only a limited number of histopathologic responses to injury, including pulmonary edema/diffuse alveolar damage, NSIP, BOOP, EP, and pulmonary hemorrhage, knowledge of these manifestations and the corresponding radiologic manifestations can often be useful in suggesting a diagnosis of drug-induced lung injury. An understanding of the drugs most commonly associated with lung injury can also facilitate diagnosis.