[Drug side effects on the bronchi and lung].
Diseases of the respiratory organs comprise almost 4% of the adverse drug reactions reported to the Spontaneous Adverse Drug Reactions Center, SANZ (169 of the 4415 reports collected between 1981 and 1990). The most frequent reports were coughing caused by ACE inhibitors, attack of bronchial asthma induced by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and beta-blocking agents, interstitial pneumopathy caused by amiodarone and sulfonamides, and respiratory depression due to benzodiazepines. The spontaneous reporting system does not allow one to determine the incidence, the reports are only of a signal-generating function. Classical semiology and special diagnostic techniques in assessing adverse drug reactions are discussed. A precise analysis of the case, temporal correlation with reaction and exposure time as well as comparisons with similar cases, together with a critical study of the literature on adverse drug reactions, remain the most important diagnostic procedures.