Treatment of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis lung involvement by cidofovir infusion

Abstract

Lung parenchyma involvement in recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) is rare, can be severe, and has variable outcomes. Although several reports have described the effects of different drugs (interferon alpha, indol-3-carbinol, cidofovir, etc.), there is no standard treatment for lung involvement in respiratory papillomatosis. We discuss herein the controversial effectiveness of cidofovir in light of a new observation of respiratory papillomatosis involving lung parenchyma. The reported case is one of rare pulmonary involvement in RRP and shows the effectiveness of intravenous cidofovir alone on symptoms, high-resolution computed tomography abnormalities, and pulmonary function tests. Aggravation after stopping cidofovir may also be interpreted as an indirect argument for the effectiveness of cidofovir in this case.

Declaration of interest: No conflict of interest.