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Airbag pneumonitis: a report and discussion of a new clinical entity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2015

Jaelyn M. Caudle ,
Robert Hawkes ,
Daniel W. Howes  and
Robert J. Brison
Jaelyn M. Caudle*
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont.
Robert Hawkes
Affiliation:
Department of Radiology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont.
Daniel W. Howes
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont.
Robert J. Brison
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Ont.
*
Department of Emergency Medicine, Queen's University, 79 Stuart St., Kingston ON K7L 2V7; 9jmc2@queensu.ca

Abstract

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This report describes the occurrence of pneumonitis in a young male immediately after inhalation of aerosolized chemicals subsequent to motor vehicle airbag deployment. The clinical presentation was one of mild shortness of breath associated with bilateral alveolar infiltrates on chest radiology. Not previously described, this diagnosis should be considered in the differential of pulmonary infiltrates in motor vehicle crash patients.

Keywords

airbag injuriespneumonitis
Type
Case Report • Rapport de cas
Information
Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine , Volume 9 , Issue 6 , November 2007 , pp. 470 - 473
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians 2007

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