Aseptic meningitis associates a typical clinical picture of meningitis with the absence of bacterial or fungal material in the cerebrospinal fluid. Drug-induced aseptic meningitis (DIAM) may be due to two mechanisms: (i) a direct meningeal irritation caused by the intrathecal administration of drugs and (ii) an immunologic hypersensitivity reaction to a systemic administration. If the direct meningeal irritation allows a rather easy recognition, the immunologic hypersensitivity reaction is a source of challenging diagnostics. DIAM linked to a systemic treatment exerts typically an early onset, usually within a week. This period can be shortened to a few hours in case of drug rechallenge. The fast and spontaneous regression of clinical symptoms is usual after stopping the suspected drug. Apart from these chronological aspects, no specific clinical or biological parameters are pathognomonic. CSF analysis usually shows pleiocytosis. The proteinorachia is increased while glycorachia remains normal. Underlying pathologies can stimulate the occurrence of DIAM. Thus, systemic lupus erythematosus appears to promote DIAM during NSAID therapy, especially ibuprofen-based one. Similarly, some patients with chronic migraine are prone to intravenous immunoglobulin-induced aseptic meningitis. DIAM will be mainly evoked on chronological criteria such as rapid occurrence after initiation, rapid regression after discontinuation, and recurrence after rechallenge of the suspected drug. When occurring, positive rechallenge may be very useful in the absence of initial diagnosis. Finally, DIAM remains a diagnosis of elimination. It should be suggested only after all infectious causes have been ruled out.

Immune control point (ICI) inhibitors represent a significant advance in the management and survival of cancers such as melanoma or non-small cell bronchial carcinoma. However, they induce unusual side effects, such as hypophysitis, which are rarely described elsewhere. This nationwide retrospective study describes the characteristics of hypophysitis reported in the French pharmacovigilance database (FPVD). We requested for all cases of ICI-related hypophysitis registered in the FPVD before May 2018. An endocrinologist and a pharmacologist reviewed all cases. About 94 pituitary cases were selected, involving 49 females and 45 men. Ipilimumab alone or in combination was the most represented ICI (56%). Most cases (61%) were grade 3 severity and the majority (90%) were corticotropic deficiency cases. Cases with thyroid and/or gonadotropic involvement were 21% and 1% respectively. Five patients (8%) had panhypopituitarism. Pituitary MRI, when performed, was in favor of hypophysitis in 50%. No patient recovered his previous hormonal function. The mean time of onset was significantly shorter with ipilimumab than other ICIs. ICI-related hypophysitis generate deficits that do not spontaneously recover, even at a distance from the event, unlike thyroiditis. Patients must then benefit from long-term coordinated onco-endocrinological management, adapted to their own specific deficits.

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