Intern Med . Tacrolimus Treatment for Post-COVID-19 Interstitial Lung Disease

[tetano]

Intern Med


. 2021 Dec 4.
doi: 10.2169/internalmedicine.7971-21. Online ahead of print.
Tacrolimus Treatment for Post-COVID-19 Interstitial Lung Disease


Migiwa Ohgushi ¹ , Naruhiko Ogo ² , Toyoshi Yanagihara ² , Yukiko Harada ¹ , Kosuke Sumida ¹ , Ayaka Egashira ¹ , Tatsuma Asoh ¹ , Takashige Maeyama ² , Seiji Yoshizawa ¹



Affiliations

• PMID: 34866097
• DOI: 10.2169/internalmedicine.7971-21

Abstract

With expansion of the COVID-19 pandemic, reports of post-COVID-19 interstitial lung disease (ILD) have been emerging. However, there are few reports regarding treatment. Some reports indicate that corticosteroids are effective for post-COVID-19 ILD, but the use of long-term corticosteroid carries risks of side effects. We administered tacrolimus to an elderly patient with post-COVID-19 ILD who suffered a respiratory failure relapse during steroid tapering. The respiratory status improved with tacrolimus in the post-acute phase, but pulmonary fibrosis progressed in the late phase. Tacrolimus may be effective for treating post-COVID-19 ILD in the post-acute phase, but it does not halt progression of pulmonary fibrosis.

Keywords: COVID19; Coronavirus disease 2019; immunosuppressive agent; interstitial lung disease; respiratory failure; tacrolimus.