Education＆ScienceEducational Article

Comment by Mark Lavercombe: Diagnosing amiodarone-induced lung disease (AILD) requires a combination of clinical, radiologic and physiologic findings, and exclusion of other potential diagnoses. Due to the presence of iodine in amiodarone, the researchers in this study evaluated whether dual-energy computed-tomography (DECT) would demonstrate iodine deposition in the lung and liver. Their cohort included 83 patients with suspected AILD, although two were excluded due to breathing artefact. The average amiodarone dose in the 81 included patients was 210 ± 53 (100–400) mg/day, with a treatment duration of 29 ± 25 (1–156) months. 24 patients were considered high clinical probability for AILD, and the remainder classed as low. There was substantial correlation between radiologic and clinical probability of AILD [Cohen’s k = 0.61 (CI: 0.41–0.80), p < 0.001].