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Interstitial lung disease with pleural effusion caused by Simvastin
Author(s) -
DE GROOT R. E. B.,
WILLEMS L. N. A.,
DIJKMAN J. H.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of internal medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.625
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1365-2796
pISSN - 0954-6820
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2796.1996.411762000.x
Subject(s) - medicine , interstitial lung disease , pleural effusion , lung disease , lung , pleural disease , respiratory disease , effusion , pathology , intensive care medicine , surgery
De Groot REB, Willems LNA, Dijkman JH (Department of Pulmonology, Leiden University Hospital, Leiden, The Netherlands). Interstitial lung disease with pleural effusion caused by Simvastin (Case Report). J. Intern Med 1996; 239: 361–3. Simvastin, a HMG‐CoA reductase blocker, is used for the treatment of certain forms of hypercholesterolaemia. Simvastin is prescribed to lower high serum levels of cholesterol by inhibiting a specific enzyme, hydroxy‐methylglutarylCo‐enzym‐A (HMG‐CoA) reductase. This ultimately leads to an increase of the number of LDL‐receptors in the liver, and thus, to a decrease of the serum LDL‐cholesterol. To a much lesser extent it lowers the serum VLDL‐cholesterol and makes the serum HDL‐cholesterol level rise. In general, this relatively new compound is well tolerated and only a few, mostly minor, adverse effects have been reported so far. We present a patient who developed interstitial lung disease with pleural effusion most probably as a result of the use of Simvastin.