Pulmonary oedema as a complication of tocolytic therapy (author's transl)

Tocolytic treatment with fenoterol and additional administration of betamethasone and acetyl salicylic acid to a 19-year-old girl caused irreversible and finally fatal pulmonary changes. The clinical course in this and that of other published cases indicates a causal relationship between the tocolytic treatment and the onset of pulmonary oedema. The pulmonary arterial pressures in this patient, the poor therapeutic response and the shock-lung picture without corresponding myocardial changes suggest a non-cardiogenic cause of pulmonary oedema. Any of the three drugs administered could have been responsible.