Our case illustrates consideration of APT in patients who have extensive use of amiodarone and new onset dyspnea
Nine patients (22%) had a 20% decrease from normal in carbon monoxide diffusion capacity and three (7%) had a 15% decrease in total lung capacity
Lung Injury / chemically induced*
Several forms of pulmonary disease occur among patients treated with amiodarone, i
dry eyes
Taking the drug for 6 months or longer 3
Amiodarone is an antiarrhythmic agent often used to manage supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmias
Amiodarone, a primarily class III antiarrhythmic drug is one of the most commonly used drug in atrial fibrillation
Amiodarone has multiple effects on myocardial depolarization and repolarization that make it an extremely effective antiarrhythmic drug
Amiodarone can also affect the heart, leading to sinus
Amiodarone can cause dangerous side effects on your heart, liver, lungs, or vision
loss of consciousness
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) specifically for the treatment of life-threatening
headache
The drug appears to damage the cells lining the lungs and airways directly ( Wolkove & Baltzan, Canadian Respiratory Journal, Feb
Amiodarone has been associated with toxicity involving the lungs, thyroid gland, liver, eyes, skin, and nerves
Similarly, the primary metabolite of amiodarone, desethylamiodarone, reveals the same molecular features (Fig 1)
Amiodarone is a class III anti-arrhythmic agent that is an effective treatment for ventricular and supraventricular tachyarrhythmias 2
6-12 Furthermore, the long-term administration of amiodarone has been associated with photosensitivity and a blue-gray hyperpigmentation of light-exposed areas of the skin
unusual drowsiness, dullness, tiredness, weakness or feeling of sluggishness
Amiodarone does not appear to increase life expectancy and can be difficult to manage, with a high risk of potentially fatal toxicities
Low-dose amiodarone for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with a decreased risk for all-cause mortality, a trend towards increased risk for interstitial lung disease (ILD), and no effect on primary lung cancer (PLC) risk
Amiodarone, and its active metabolite desethylamiodarone, have multiple effects on cardiac depolarisation and repolarisation
If you’re concerned, or want to know more about your medicine, you can also ask a pharmacist for a Medicines Use Review, where we talk Abstract
Though there is no safe dose, amiodarone associated pulmonary toxicity is mostly Amiodarone is extensively concentrated in tissues such as the skin, liver, lung, eyes, adipose tissue, muscle (including increased concentration within the myocardium) and thyroid gland, The majority of the adverse effects of amiodarone on various organs are caused by the deposition of the drug in the parenchyma
The most common is related to microdeposits in corneal and thyroid tissue, appearing in 85–100% of patients who receive chronic treatment
The toxic effects of amiodarone on the lungs are well known, but the sudden onset of those effects is not adequately recognized and treated
Side effects of oral amiodarone at doses of 400 mg or higher include various pulmonary effects
These tend to improve with a lower dose
0% (69 patients) after an average of 24 months of amiodarone treatment