DRUG-INDUCED PNEUMONIA DUE TO ISOTRETINOI N

A young man without any past history of note had taken isotretinoin fo r disfiguring acne before the summer season. He presented with a sever e bilateral pneumonia, associated with dyspnoea two months after the s tart of treatment. On the pulmonary radiography there was a bilateral ground glass appearance which was worse on the right. The elevated lev el of eosinophils (54% in 564,000 cells/ml) in the alveolar lavage lea d to a diagnosis of allergic pneumonia. The rapidly favourable outcome following the cessation of the medication and with the addition of co rticosteroids seemed to us a supplementary argument in favour of a dia gnosis of eosinophilic pneumonia, due to isotretinoin which seemed the primary initiating factor.