Non-resolving Findings in a Long-term Radiographic Follow-up of an Infant with Acute Paraffin Oil Aspiration

Adult with mass burnt lime aspiration: A case report and literature review

BACKGROUND

Foreign body aspiration mainly occurs in children, which can cause a severe concurrent syndrome and even death without timely treatment. As a rare foreign body, aspiration of lime is seldom reported, and most cases involve a small amount of hydrated lime. Although the symptoms are usually severe, the prognosis is good after suitable treatment. Experience of treatment for lime aspiration is lacking, and this report provides novel evidence for treatment of mass burnt lime aspiration using bronchoscopy.

CASE SUMMARY

We report an adult with a large amount of burnt lime aspiration. Because of delay in clearance of the inhaled lime in the trachea and bronchus at the local hospital, he suffered several severe complications, including complete occlusion of the right primary bronchus, aeropleura, aerodermectasia, pneumomediastinum, secondary infection and hypoxemia at 4 d after injury. After transferring to our department, bronchoscopy was immediately carried out to clear the lime in the major airway, using foreign body forceps, biopsy forceps, puncture needle, and hairbrush. The patient’s condition recovered rapidly and at 3-months’ follow-up, he demonstrated good recovery of the bronchus and lung parenchyma.

CONCLUSION

After mass lime aspiration, flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy is suggested as early as possible, using clamping, flushing or cryotherapy.

Study of Acute Exogenous Lipoid Pneumonia

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the clinical and imagenological characteristics of acute Exogenous lipoid pneumonia (ELP), explore its risk factors, and assess the potential role of multiple bronchoalveolar lavages (BALs) and steroid therapy in the treatment of children with acute ELP.

METHODS

Between May 2011 and July 2014, 33 pediatric patients with pneumonia caused by aspiration of oil-based substances were admitted to the Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangdong, China. Data on the demographics of these patients, as well as that on clinical presentations, imagenological characteristics, history of ingestion, laboratory observations, treatment protocol, response to therapy, BAL findings, and treatment outcomes were collected.

RESULTS

The study group consisted of 23 boys (69.7 %) and 10 girls (30.3 %), with ages ranging from 4 mo to 4 y. They were admitted to the hospital 2 h to 13 d after ingesting the oil-based substance. By the time of admission, most patients presented with respiratory distress and other symptoms, including tachypnea (n = 21), cough (n = 25), mild fever (n = 18), progressive dyspnea (n = 12), and pneumorrhagia (n = 5); six patients received mechanical ventilation because of complicated respiratory distress syndrome. The most common laboratory observations were leukocytosis (25 of 33, 75.8 %), neutrophilia (23 of 33, 69.7 %), and anemia (8 of 33, 24.2 %). Serum biochemical examination showed elevated sedimentation rates (24 of 33, 72.7 %), lactate dehydrogenase levels (18 of 33, 54.5 %), and C-reactive protein levels (17 of 33, 51.5 %). The most common finding on computed tomography (CT) scans was areas of consolidation. Within the follow-up duration of 2 wk to 6 mo, all patients with clinical symptoms of ELP experienced remission, and none died. The CT scans of most of the cases were normal by 1 to 3 mo, except for two patients who showed complete improvement 6 mo after treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

It was found that multiple BALs combined with steroid therapy result in significant improvement of clinical, radiologic, and laboratory parameters in children with acute ELP. Further, some traditional practices may predispose children to ELP, even in the absence of underlying risk factors. Finally, pneumorrhagia and acute respiratory distress syndrome may be the main complications of acute ELP in children.