INTRODUCTION

Drug induced interstitial lung disease (DIILD) is a rare adverse event that can lead to respiratory insufficiency and death in the most serious cases. Most of published studies are in adult population, with scarce paediatric data.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The aim of our study is to describe clinical characteristics and outcome of DIILD in our paediatric population.

METHODS

Medical records of all patients with DIILD seen at our institution between January 2016 and December 2022 were retrospectively reviewed.

RESULTS

We identified 5 patients with DIILD. Among the causative drugs, anti-neoplasic agents were the primary offending drug (n=4). The most frequent symptoms were dyspnoea and crackles on auscultation with variable time of onset (few hours to 24 days after drug administration). Two patients were admitted to Intensive Care Unit because of need for mechanical ventilation. The two main radiological patterns were bronchiolitis obliterans (n=2) and cryptogenic organizing pneumonia (n=2). One patient presented as unilateral pleural effusion that required drainage. A comprehensive study was carried out in all patients to rule out infectious disease. Lung biopsy was performed in two patients. Intravenous corticosteroids were the treatment of choice, given as pulses in the most severe cases (n=2). All five patients survived without permanent side-effects, except for one who required lung transplant due to severe pulmonary insufficiency.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a similarity between the causative drugs, clinical and radiological findings in our study with the adult data published, although they differ in terms of prognosis, being more favourable in our series.