Loeffler’s Syndrome

Loeffler’s Syndrome General Information

The medical term “Loeffler’s Syndrome” is known to define an inflammatory condition that affects the patient’s lungs. The presence of this inflammatory medical disorder is generally associated with an increase of the patient’s eosinophils’ levels (a special type of white cells that are naturally found in the patient’s blood). Other synonyms that define the same medical condition include “Pulmonary Eosinophilia”. Most patients have developed their lung medical disorder due to an allergic reaction (hyper sensibility), due to the prolonged intake of a certain medicine (like Sulfonamide, for instance), due to the presence of an infection (that may be caused by a parasite, a fungus, or so on - Ascaris lumbricoides is a pathogen that is widely associated with the presence of this medical condition ).

This medical disorder belongs to a group of heterogeneous clinical conditions that are associated with blood and / or tissue eosinophilia. The presence of an extrinsic factor (that might be ingested or inhaled) may lead to the appearance of an immune response. In the case of Loeffler’s Syndrome, the response of the organism’s immune system is self-limited and mild. Most pulmonary eosinophilic syndromes of an intrinsic nature are generally idiopathic. The presence of this medical condition is widely reported in the case of patients who are suffering from AIDS, a wide variety of lung medical disorders of an inflammatory nature, lymphoma, collagen disease of the vascular system, and so on. Marked eosinophilia may manifest along with asthma.

Loeffler’s Syndrome Symptoms

The presence of this medical disorder of an inflammatory nature (Loeffler’s Syndrome) is known to lead to the development of certain symptoms and / or clinical manifestations that, in time, have been associated with this disease. For example, after closely studying various clinical cases in which the patients had been diagnosed with this disorder, scientists (physicians) have been able to make up a list of symptoms that may “betray” the presence of this medical condition. In this chapter, you will find a couple of the most common clinical manifestations that may be determined by this medical condition. They include: feeling of illness, dry cough, high fever, pain that is located in the chest, breath shortness (trouble breathing), wheezing, rash (that may affect almost any body part), rapid respiratory rate, and so on.

While a patient may experience all of the symptoms that we have presented here, others may not experience any of them. Furthermore, the intensity of the clinical manifestations is also known to vary from one patient to another. In some rare cases, the symptoms of Loeffler’s Syndrome may go away (disappear) even if the patient had not followed any specific therapy against this medical condition. Unfortunately, the list of symptoms that you have found above may not be complete. For this reason, if you are seeking reliable, professional information regarding this matter, we strongly suggest you to ask your personal physician for further details. He will be more than happy to provide you with the information that you need.

Loeffler’s Syndrome Treatment

In order to provide you with a correct diagnosis, your personal health care provider might want to hear more about your symptoms, clinical history, any potential allergic reactions, and so on. For this reason, it is more than important for each patient to be able to provide their personal physician with reliable information of any kind regarding these matters. Your doctor will also want you to undergo a basic clinical evaluation. This medical test generally begins with your physician’s listening to your chest with the use of a stethoscope. He or she will look for the presence of rales (crackle-like sounds), that are known to “betray” the presence of an abnormal inflammation of the tissue of the lung(s). In other words, looking for rales is the first step in diagnosing Loeffler’s Syndrome. A secondary exam, that of your blood, will show whether you present an increase in your white blood cell count (your physician will be particularly interested in the count of your eosinophils). Through the average x-rays of the chest, your physician will be able to see if your lungs present any infiltrates (that appear as unusual shadows). This symptom may disappear in time; however, in some cases it reappears, affecting other areas of your lung(s).

If the clinical evaluation has lead to the decision that your Loeffler’s Syndrome is due to an allergic reaction to a certain medicine, the main therapy option is discontinuing the treatment with that medical product (if this is possible without causing any harmful effects). In some cases, gradual cease of the therapy is required, in order for the patient to avoid experiencing any unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. However, if the presence of your Loeffler’s Syndrome is due to an infectious medical condition, antibiotic therapy is needed. Similar, beneficial results have also been obtained in the case of patients who had undergone treatment trials with anti-parasitic medical products. The most severe cases of this medical condition (Loeffler’s Syndrome) require a therapy with a powerful, effective anti-inflammatory medical product. In such clinical cases, the physician will probably prescribe the use of corticosteroid medications.

In some cases, this medical condition is known to go away without any specific therapy. In case the patient receives an adequate treatment trial against his disorder (Loeffler’s Syndrome), he or she is known to generally develop a beneficial response. However, all patients are prone to developing unpleasant relapses of this medical condition. In the severe clinical cases, the patient may develop the dangerous (but rare) complications of this medical condition. One of them is acute idiopathic eosinophilic pneumonia (a life-threatening medical condition). This medical condition is quite rare, and in some cases, physicians are unable to find the true cause of this medical disorder. The most effective way to prevent developing this medical disorder is to minimize (as you can) the exposure to the most common risk factors of this disorders (like certain metals, some medical products, and so on).
The most common medicines that are known to be widely prescribed in the therapy against Loeffler’s Syndrome include the following medical products: Clinacort, Clinalog, Aristocort, Trilog, Trilone, Triam-A, and so on (all of them are inhaled forms of clinical corticosteroids).