Organising pneumonia associated with fumaric acid ester treatment for psoriasis.
BACKGROUND
We present the case of a 49-year old male who presented with dyspnoea, cough, weight loss, night sweats and general malaise. He had been on treatment with oral fumaric acid esters (FAE, Fumaderm®; Biogen Idec GmbH, Ismaning, Germany) for 6 months.


METHODS
Report of a case.


RESULTS
His chest X-ray showed patchy infiltrates in the left upper lobe which failed to resolve under empiric antibiotic therapy. A computed tomography of thorax revealed bilateral, mostly peripheral foci of consolidation with air bronchograms. Transbronchial biopsies showed a pattern of organising pneumonia (OP).


CONCLUSIONS
Therapy with oral prednisolone (40 mg/day) resulted in a rapid clinical and radiological improvement. An association of FAE and OP has not previously been reported. Please cite this paper as: Deegan AP, Kirby B, Rogers S, Crotty TB and McDonnell TJ. Organising pneumonia associated with fumaric acid ester treatment for psoriasis.
Deegan
Alexander Paul
AP
St. Vincent's University Hospital, Respiratory Department, Dublin, Ireland.
Kirby
Brian
B
Rogers
Sarah
S
Crotty
Tom Bernard
TB
McDonnell
Timonthy John
TJ
D000284:Administration, Oral; D001706:Biopsy; D018549:Cryptogenic Organizing Pneumonia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology*; D005650:Fumarates / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
D005650:Fumarates; D005938:Glucocorticoids; D011239:Prednisolone