Abstract
A 78-year-old man had a history of fever, pneumonia with dyspnea and eruption with pruritus 5 years previously, for which the patient was started on oral corticosteroid administration. Thereafter, the patient developed recurrent erythema when the dose of oral corticosteroid was reduced. Therefore, the patient unwillingly continued oral corticosteroid for 5 years. There were no signs of malignancy. Although drug-induced eruption and pneumonia were suspected, the patient reported that he had been taking no medicine. Then he was referred to our hospital for further evaluation. Review of the medical history demonstrated that he had continued to take fluvastatin, which had been prescribed by his family practitioner for almost 7 years. The eruption diminished within two weeks after discontinuing fluvastatin. The patient has had no recurrences during a 9-month follow-up to date. However, interstitial pneumonia on chest CT has persisted. Accordingly, fluvastatin-induced eruption and pneumonia was diagnosed. His symptom developed two years after the initiation of fluvastatin and recurred several weeks after the dose of steroid was reduced, which is an atypical feature of allergic drug eruption. Skin Research, 9: 526-531, 2010
