Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0034063 (pulmonary edema)
 10,665 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Methotrexate, an antifolate cytotoxic drug, is used in anticancer chemotherapy as well as an immuno suppressive in rheumatoid arthritis. It is responsible for numerous secondary effects, amongst which is a characteristic acute pneumonia known since 1969. This pneumonitis has been described in detail, up to the present time in 78 cases gathered in this review. The prevalence of this complication is estimated at around 7%. This pneumonia may occur whatever the age, indication for which methotrexate is prescribed, the route of administration of the product (including the intra-thecal route) and the dose. It includes dyspnoea, fever, (sometimes quite marked) and frequently an acute reversible respiratory failure. Radiologically the opacities are usually diffuse interstitial and symmetrical with a basal predominance with sometimes some confluence and occasionally a pleural reaction. In a small number of cases a transient mediastinal adenopathy has been described. Respiratory function tests show a rapidly developing restrictive syndrome accompanied by hypoxia and hypocapnia. Broncho-alveolar lavage is characterised by hypercellularity with a frank and apparently transitory lymphocytosis. Histologically the most frequent lesion sighted is an extensive acute granulomatous reaction with or without oedema. Most often the outcome is favourable (75% of cases). However 6 deaths due to respiratory failure have been reported. Even though there has not been any formal test, steroid therapy in high dosage seems to accelerate recovery. Progress to an irreversible pulmonary fibrosis is possible but rare. The mechanism of this drug related acute pneumonia is not known but would seem to resemble that of other granulomatosis. Besides this rapidly progressive pneumonitis, methotrexate is responsible for a very small number of cases of severe pulmonary oedema and of acute painful pleurisies.
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PMID:[Pneumopathy caused by methotrexate]. 225 35

Methotrexate may cause pulmonary side effects. Two cases of methotrexate-induced fibrosing alveolitis are reported. One of the patients died from perforated gastric ulcer, the other was successfully treated with systemic steroids. The pulmonary side effects of methotrexate are reviewed. The most common clinical manifestation is fibrosing alveolitis. Pulmonary fibrosis and acute, non-cardiogenic pulmonary oedema are rare.
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PMID:[Methotrexate induced pulmonary disease]. 226 58

A 71-year-old man with a long-standing history of rheumatoid arthritis required methotrexate treatment since 1986, with a total dose of 210 mg. In April 1987, before arthroplastic surgery, methotrexate was discontinued. Four weeks later a syndrome of fever, dry cough, shortness of breath, and diffuse air-space consolidations on the chest radiograph evolved. An antibiotic therapy had no beneficial effect, and a bronchoscopy yielded no pathogens. An open lung biopsy led to the diagnosis of methotrexate-induced pneumonitis. This is the first report of a case where methotrexate-induced pneumonitis developed several weeks after cessation of the treatment. Methotrexate can cause four types of pulmonary adverse reactions: pneumonitis, pulmonary edema, pulmonary fibrosis, and pleuritis. Possible pathogenetic mechanisms, symptoms, treatment, and prognosis are discussed.
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PMID:Methotrexate-induced pneumonitis: appearance four weeks after discontinuation of treatment. 280 69

In their review article the authors overview the primary and secondary pulmonary complications of rheumatoid arthritis with the help of bibliographic data. They emphasize the pulmonological complications of disease modifying antirheumatic drugs used for the pharmaceutical therapy of rheumatoid arthritis, of which they discuss the methotrexate induced pulmonary diseases. Methotrexate participates nearly in all of additive double and triple--O'Dell-scheme--combined disease modifying antirheumatic drugs therapy. Because of that, the early detection of drug-induced pulmonological complications is important. For rheumatologists the treatment of methotrexate resistant rheumatoid arthritis is always getting a higher and higher challenge. Biological therapeutical drugs act as cytokine antagonists, by blocking TNF-alpha and, compared to disease modifying antirheumatic drugs, they can more effectively inhibit the progression of the disease. These are the biological response modifiers. Their main representatives are infliximab, adalimumab, and etanercept. At the end, the authors discuss secondary pulmonary complications caused by biological response modifiers, e.g. the biological response modifiers associated pulmonary tuberculosis, bacterial tracheobronchitis, bacterial pneumonia, bronchiectasia, pulmonary oedema, rapid fibrosing alveolitis, and coccidioidomycosis. At 3% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, treated with biological response modifiers, who live in Arizona, California, Nevada, pulmonary and systemic mycosis--coccidioidomycosis can appear with a 15% of mortality. As a consequence of frequent earthquakes, the spores getting into the air from the ground infect immunosuppressed patients treated with biological response modifiers. The authors draw attention to the fact that patients who receive biological therapy and travel to the above-mentioned endemic or earthquake-active regions, have a potential high risk, so it is indispensable that they are informed by the doctor. Testing and use of newer and newer groups of biological response modifiers are expected in the near future in the therapy of rheumatoid arthritis. Nowadays--in patients, who are non-reactive for TNF-alpha inhibitor treatment--the use of B-lymphocyte inhibitor rituximab, characteristic in non-Hodgkin lymphoma therapy is possible. The pulmonary complications of rheumatoid arthritis therapy of that cytokine are not known yet. Today, antirheumatic therapy results in a significant improvement of patients' life-quality, whilst the more and more modern therapeutical methods cause more complications.
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PMID:[The pulmonological manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis]. 1861 67