Other (non-medical) causes of pulmonary toxicity can be chemical compounds and airborne particulate matter.
Side effects on the lungs can be very varied, and can include signs and symptoms that are either clinical, or radiological (i.e., seen on chest X-ray or CT), or both.
Medicinal drugs should not be ruled out completely right from the start just because they possibly could cause pulmonary toxicity.
A number of medicinal drugs that could cause pulmonary toxicity can be life-saving for certain patients with specific diseases.
Ideally, the pros and cons should be weighed at the start of therapy and in regular intervals thereafter, based on the available scientific/medical evidence, by an expert physician, together with an informed patient.
[4][5] Radiotherapists are well aware of possible pulmonary toxicity, and take a number of precautions to minimise the incidence of this side effect.
[8][9][10][11] As a consequence, laws, by-laws and guidelines that regulate the amount of particulate matter that can be emitted in a given time period were issued in the European Union.
AIPT may manifest as chronic interstitial pneumonitis, organising pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, pulmonary mass, or nodules.
Most patients with AIPT respond well to the withdrawal of amiodarone and to the addition of corticosteroid treatment, which is usually given for two to six months.