Low‐voltage electricity‐induced lung injury

We report a case of bilateral pulmonary infiltrates and haemoptysis following low‐voltage electricity exposure in an agricultural worker. A 58‐year‐old man standing in water reached for an electric watering machine and sustained an exposure to 220 V circuit for an uncertain duration. The electricity...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Respirology case reports 2018-02, Vol.6 (2), p.e00292-n/a
Main Authors: Truong, Thai, Le, Thuong Vu, Smith, David L., Kantrow, Stephen P., Tran, Van Ngoc
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Case Report
Case Reports
Edema
Electrical visceral injury
Electricity
haemoptysis
lung necrosis
pulmonary oedema
rhabdomyolysis
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We report a case of bilateral pulmonary infiltrates and haemoptysis following low‐voltage electricity exposure in an agricultural worker. A 58‐year‐old man standing in water reached for an electric watering machine and sustained an exposure to 220 V circuit for an uncertain duration. The electricity was turned off by another worker, and the patient was asymptomatic for the next 10 h until he developed haemoptysis. A chest radiograph demonstrated bilateral infiltrates, and chest computed tomography (CT) revealed ground‐glass opacities with interstitial thickening. Evaluations, including electrocardiogram, serum troponin, N‐terminal pro‐B‐type natriuretic peptide (NT‐pro BNP), coagulation studies, and echocardiogram, found no abnormality. The patient was treated for suspected electricity‐induced lung injury and bleeding with tranexamic acid and for rhabdomyolysis with volume resuscitation. He recovered with complete resolution of chest radiograph abnormalities by Day 7. This is the first reported case of bilateral lung oedema and/or injury after electricity exposure without cardiac arrest. We report a case of bilateral pulmonary infiltrates and haemoptysis following low‐voltage electricity exposure in an agricultural worker.
ISSN:2051-3380
2051-3380
DOI:10.1002/rcr2.292