Abstract
Background
Lung injury associated with cannabinoid oil vaping is rapidly becoming a serious public
health concern. We describe the clinical and radiographic presentations of 5 patients
with lung injury associated with vaping cannabinoid oils seen at a single institution.
Results
Of the 5 patients with suspected vaping-associated lung injury seen at our institution,
4 required supplemental oxygen, and all these 4 were admitted to the hospital. Three
patients required admission to the intensive care unit. None of the patients required
mechanical ventilation. All patients demonstrated a consistent radiologic appearance
of diffuse bilateral ground-glass lung opacities that spared the extreme periphery.
Three patients underwent bronchoalveolar lavage, which revealed lipid-laden macrophages
in 2 of them. All patients were successfully discharged from the hospital. Four received
only supportive care, while the fifth required intravenous followed by oral corticosteroids.
Conclusions
We report the clinical and radiographic presentation of 5 patients at our institution
with cannabinoid oil vaping-associated lung injury. All patients displayed a consistent
chest radiographic pattern of injury. Most responded to supportive care, although
one required the addition of corticosteroids. Bronchoalveolar lavage results suggest
that this injury may related to a toxic form of lipoid pneumonia.
Keywords
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References
- Vaping medical marijuana.Postgrad Med. 2018; 130: 183-185
- Cannabis oil: chemical evaluation of an upcoming cannabis-based medicine.Cannabinoids. 2013; 1: 1-11
- Online survey characterizing vaporizer use among cannabis users.Drug Alcohol Depend. 2016; 159: 227-233
- “Tree-in-bloom”: severe acute lung injury induced by vaping cannabis oil.Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2017; 14: 468-470
Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 18, 2019
Footnotes
Funding: None.
Conflict of Interest: No author has a conflict of interest to disclose.
Authorship: All authors had access to data, participated in patient care, and had a role in creating the manuscript.
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
