Compounds:
(1) Mesalazine or Mesalamine (trade name for 5-ASA)
(2) Sulphasalazine or Sulfasalzine (SASP = 5-ASA with bound sulfapyridine)
Common indication: inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis)
Lung pathology:
(1) eosinophilic pneumonia (with eosinophilia in the peripheral blood and broncho-alveolar lavage)
(2) interstitial pneumonia
(3) interstitial fibrosis
Clinical findings:
(1) onset of respiratory symptoms (low-grade fever, cough, pulmonary infiltrates on chest X-ray) after starting drug therapy
(2) reversal of respiratory symptoms after drug discontinuation over several weeks
(3) variable need for corticosteroids with severe airway inflammation
Differential diagnosis:
(1) infectious pneumonia
(2) pulmonary complications of the inflammatory bowel disease
(3) other forms of interstitial or eosinophilic pneumonia
