Lipoid pneumonia is an uncommon form of the lung disease pneumonia. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection in the lungs that irritates the air sacs, or alveoli, that are responsible for passing oxygen from the tissues of the lungs into the blood. In contrast, lipoid pneumonia is caused by the inhalation of the oils in e-cigarettes or other vaping devices irritating the air sacs in the lungs.
Common symptoms of lipoid pneumonia include:
The symptoms of lipoid pneumonia are common across a wide variety of diseases. For this reason, people experiencing lipoid pneumonia as a result of vaping are often not given the right diagnosis initially or go through a period of waiting before receiving a definitive diagnosis from their doctor. During this time, many people continue to use e-cigarettes or other vaping devices, leading to a worsening of symptoms.
Vaping-associated lipoid pneumonia is caused by use of e-cigarettes or other vaping devices. The oil contained in the liquid that is vaporised gets trapped in the lungs and irritates the lung tissue.
A doctor will use a combination of your current symptoms, medical history, a physical exam, imaging tests, and a lung biopsy to confirm a diagnosis of lipoid pneumonia. It’s very important to be honest with your doctor about any use of e-cigarettes or other vaping devices. This essential piece of your medical history will give them a cause to investigate the possibility of vaping-associated lipoid pneumonia.
A doctor may suspect lipoid pneumonia given any current symptoms, your medical history, and a physical exam. However, it is impossible to confirm the diagnosis without imaging tests and a lung biopsy that can show abnormalities in the lung tissue that are specific to lipoid pneumonia.
Lipoid pneumonia can take a long time to diagnose and is often misdiagnosed. For this reason, it’s important to stop using any e-cigarettes or other vaping devices if you are seeing a doctor with any of the above symptoms.
Complications include a longer recovery time and increased risk of future lung disease if one has an underlying lung disease. Permanent lung damage is possible if lipoid pneumonia is left untreated. Continued use of e-cigarettes or other vaping products may also make lipoid pneumonia more difficult to effectively treat and may make one more susceptible to future lung disease.
Vaping-related lipoid pneumonia is very rare. Due to this, there are no standard guidelines for the treatment of the disease. If you have been diagnosed with lipoid pneumonia and currently use e-cigarettes or other vaping devices, talk to your doctor about manageable ways to stop using these products.
Current therapies include:
These 4 treatments, along with any other necessary therapy for present symptoms, should allow for a full recovery. Your doctor may also want to try a whole lung lavage. This procedure involves rinsing out an entire lung with saline until all of the fat particles are gone.
The most important thing you can do to prevent vaping-related lipoid pneumonia is to avoid e-cigarettes and other vaping devices and any second-hand vapours.