Diffuse Alveolar Hemorrhage after Anabolic Steroid Use: A Case Report

Abstract

Introduction: Corticosteroids have an important role in multiples physiological mechanisms, including carbohydrate metabolism, protein catabolism and a potent anti-inflammatory activity that made them basic to the treatment of a large number of autoimmune diseases. Anabolic steroid treatment has been associated with a large number of side effects: Impaired hepatic function, hypotrophic hypogonadism, cardiac involvement, thrombosis development, etc. However, there are few cases reported in the medical literature of diffuse alveolar haemorrhage secondary to this cause. In recent years there has been an increase in the use of corticosteroids in an abusive way for non-medical purposes, specifically in the field of bodybuilding, with the aim of gaining muscle mass quickly and which is worrying as well as the adverse effects previously mentioned, by the disconcerting of the long-term adverse effects. Presentation of the Case: We present the case of a young male bodybuilder patient who presented diffuse alveolar haemorrhage due to several cycles of anabolic steroid treatment. The clinical picture began with dyspnea and hemoptysis associated with an X-ray and chest CT with compatible infiltrates. The patient presented a favorable response to the administration of corticosteroids in high doses and after the withdrawal of the anabolic steroids the normalization of the imaging tests took place, without presenting subsequent alterations in the pulmonary function. Conclusions: We consider that it is important to keep in mind the diffuse alveolar haemorrhage as a complication associated with the use of anabolic steroids and it must be taken into account that the patient is precocious with dyspnea and hemoptysis. *Corresponding author: Belen Gomez Rodriguez, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocio, Seville, Spain, Tel: 658196605; E-mail: bgrneumo@gmail.com Received September 10, 2018; Accepted September 28, 2018; Published October 04, 2018 Citation: Rodríguez GB, Portal JAR (2018) Diffuse Alveolar Hemorrhage after Anabolic Steroid Use: A Case Report. J Pulm Respir Med 8: 473. doi: 10.4172/2161105X.1000473 Copyright: ©2018 Rodríguez GB, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.