Acute Amiodarone Pulmonary Toxicity

Amiodarone is an effective antiarrhythmic that frequently is used during the perioperative period. Amiodarone possesses a significant adverse reaction profile. Amiodarone-induced pulmonary toxicity (AIPT) is among the most serious adverse effects and is a leading cause of death associated with its use. Despite significant advances in the understanding of AIPT, its etiology and pathogenesis remain incompletely understood. The diagnosis of AIPT is one of exclusion. The clinical manifestations of AIPT are categorized broadly as acute, subacute, and chronic. Acute AIPT is a rarer and more aggressive form of the disease, most often encountered in cardiothoracic surgery. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is the predominating pattern of amiodarone's acute pulmonary toxicity. The incidence, risk factors, pathogenesis, and diagnosis of acute AIPT are speculative. Early cardiothoracic literature investigating AIPT often attributed amiodarone to the development of postoperative ARDS. Subsequent studies have found no association between amiodarone and acute AIPT and ARDS development. As a drug that is frequently prescribed to a patient population deemed most at risk for this fatal disease, the conflicting evidence on acute AIPT needs further investigation and clarification.