Pergolide-induced pleuropulmonary fibrosis

Pleuropulmonary fibrosis is a rare, but well-recognized adverse effect of ergot alkaloids. We report on four patients who developed pleural and/or pulmonary fibrosis during treatment with pergolide and give characteristics of 87 cases with one or more symptoms of serosal fibrosis. Retroperitoneal and pleuropulmonary fibrosis are serious conditions, which are often irreversible after drug withdrawal. Increased awareness may help to diagnose these complications at an earlier stage and to minimize any permanent damage to the patient

Pergolide-induced pleuropulmonary fibrosis

Pleuropulmonary fibrosis is a rare, but well-recognized adverse effect of ergot alkaloids. We report on four patients who developed pleural and/or pulmonary fibrosis during treatment with pergolide and give characteristics of 87 cases with one or more symptoms of serosal fibrosis. Retroperitoneal and pleuropulmonary fibrosis are serious conditions, which are often irreversible after drug withdrawal. Increased awareness may help to diagnose these complications at an earlier stage and to minimize any permanent damage to the patient

Long-term cerebral imaging after pre-eclampsia

Please cite this paper as: Aukes A, De Groot J, Wiegman M, Aarnoudse J, Sanwikarja G, Zeeman G. Long-term cerebral imaging after pre-eclampsia. BJOG 2012;119:11171122. Objective Formerly eclamptic women demonstrate cerebral white matter lesions (WMLs) several years following the index pregnancy. The pathophysiology is unclear and may be related to the predisposition for cerebrovascular/cardiovascular disease in such women and/or the occurrence of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome whilst pregnant. The aim of this study was to assess the presence and severity of WMLs and their relationship with the severity of the neurological symptoms during the index pregnancy and several current cardiovascular risk factors in formerly pre-eclamptic women. Design This was a retrospective cohort study. Setting The Neuroimaging Centre at the School for Behavioural and Cognitive Neurosciences, Groningen, the Netherlands. Population Seventy-three formerly pre-eclamptic women were matched for age (37 +/- 6 years) and elapsed time since index pregnancy (5.1 +/- 3.7 years) with parous control women. Methods Cerebral magnetic resonance imaging scans were performed on cases and controls. Scans were rated by a neuroradiologist blind to the patient category. Main outcome measures The presence and severity of cerebral WMLs. Results Formerly pre-eclamptic women had WMLs significantly more often (37%) and more severely (mean, 0.11; median, 0.00; range, 02.34 ml) than controls (21%, P = 0.04; mean, 0.015; median, 0.00; range, 00.13 ml; P = 0.02). Current hypertension and a history of early-onset pre-eclampsia