This chapter includes a synthesis of data regarding the lesions of the lungs
and airways that can be induced by medical drugs or diagnostic and/or therapeutic
interventions. Drug-induced lesions are difficult to identify and mainly relate to
laryngeal or pulmonary edema, hypersensitivity pneumonitis and diffuse alveolar
damage with hyaline membranes. In patients taking anticoagulants, the occurrence of
spontaneous hemothorax or aberrant thromboembolism should also be taken into
account. Diagnostic procedures that involve the airways are sometimes, though rarely,
followed by complications that include post intubation croup, ulcerations or
granulomas, but infrequent iatrogenic tracheal rupture and injuries to cranial nerves are
also reported. Mechanical ventilation and hyperbaric oxygen therapy can be followed
by pulmonary edema, interstitial emphysema or pneumothorax. In preterm babies,
Wilson-Mikity syndrome and intraventricular brain hemorrhage can occur following
oxygen therapy. All of these data are examined in detail in this chapter.
Keywords: Adverse drug reaction, Airways, Anaphylaxis, Aspiration, Croup,
edema, Embolism, Hemothorax, Hyaline membranes, Hyperpigmentation, Intraalveolar
hemorrhage, Lung, Pneumonia, Pneumothorax, Respiratory distress
syndrome, Wilson-Mikity syndrome.
