| Abstract | A 22-year-old woman was admitted with symptoms of dyspnea and fever with pulmonary infiltrates noted on her chest X-ray study. She developed these symptoms in the workplace; her job included the removal of body hair using a diode-laser with 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (HFC134a, an alternative to chlorofluorocarbon) as a coolant. A chest X-ray examination revealed ground-glass opacities in the lower lung fields, and a chest computed tomographic study showed diffuse centrilobular opacities. An examination of the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid revealed increased lymphocytes with a slight increase in the number of eosinophils. An examination of the transbronchial biopsy specimens revealed eosinophil infiltration. A peripheral blood eosinophilia was also seen. The patient's symptoms, chest X-ray findings, and arterial blood gas analysis all returned to normal within a week. A challenge test of 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (HFC134a) inhalation was performed, which resulted in an elevation of body temperature, the development of a cough, and laboratory data indicating increased inflammation. We then determined the patient's diagnosis to be extrinsic allergic alveolitis with eosinophil infiltration, caused by HFC134a. |
| Authors | Takashi Ishiguro, Masahide Yasui, Yusuke Nakade, Hideharu Kimura, Nobuyuki Katayama, Kazuo Kasahara, Masaki Fujimura
(Affiliation: Respiratory Medicine, Cellular Transplantation Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kanazawa University. ishiguro at med3.m.kanazawa-u.ac.jp)
|
| Journal | Internal medicine (Tokyo, Japan)
(Intern Med)
Vol. 46
Issue 17
Pg. 1455-7
( 2007)
ISSN: 1349-7235 Japan |
| PMID | 17827848
(Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article)
|
| Chemical References |
- Aerosol Propellants
- Air Pollutants, Occupational
- Hydrocarbons, Fluorinated
- norflurane
|
| Topics |
- Adult
- Aerosol Propellants
(adverse effects)
- Air Pollutants, Occupational
(adverse effects)
- Alveolitis, Extrinsic Allergic
(chemically induced)
- Eosinophilia
(etiology)
- Female
- Hair Removal
(adverse effects, methods)
- Humans
- Hydrocarbons, Fluorinated
(adverse effects)
- Occupational Diseases
- Occupational Exposure
(adverse effects)
|
