Abstract
We report a Japanese female infant with acute interstitial pneumonia who responded to chloroquine.She presented at the age of 7 months with fever, cough, and tachypnea.The symptoms progressed to hypoxemiand acute respiratory failure within one week.She was diagnosed as having acute interstitial pneumonia and treated three times with a three days regimen of methylprednisolone pulse therapy, 30 mg/kg/day.Then she received oral prednisolone therapy, 2 mg/kg/day divided in two doses, but the treatment was not sufficiently effective.Chloroquine was begun at the age of 9 months, 10 mg/kg/day divided in two doses for 6 months.Clinical improvement was seen, so that supplemental oxygen and prednisolone could be finished.The effect of chloroquine for idiopathic interstitial pneumonia in children has been described in many reports.However chloroquine has severe side effects.Retinopathy is usually irreversible and may develop even years after withdrawal of the drug.In previous reports, there were no serious side effects in children treated with chloroquine 10 mg/kg/day divided in two doses.Chloroquine was very effective for acute interstitial pneumonia in our case that didn't respond to corticosteroids.Chloroquine treatment has to be considered in cases of interstitial pneumonia unresponsive to corticosteroids, with care of optical side effects.
