Silicone pulmonary embolism: report of 10 cases and review of the literature.

OBJECTIVE: To assess patient outcome and imaging findings of patients with pulmonary embolism of fluid silicone. METHODS: Medical records and imaging examinations of 10 patients with respiratory distress after illicit injection of fluid silicone were reviewed. Population consisted of 8 male (6 male-to-female transsexuals) and 2 female subjects. RESULTS: Average age was 29 years. Most common injection sites were gluteal and trochanteric. Respiratory symptoms developed between 15 minutes and 2 days after silicone injection. Five referred fever, 6 developed adult respiratory distress syndrome, and 2 subsequently died. Alveolar hemorrhage was demonstrated on pathological examination in 6, with silicone vacuoles in the lung parenchyma in 3. Computed tomography demonstrated peripheral ground glass opacities with interlobular septal thickening in all and peripheral airspace disease in 7. CONCLUSIONS: Illicit injection of large volumes of fluid silicone for cosmetic purposes is associated with pulmonary embolism and acute alveolar hemorrhage and is associated with a significant mortality.

Pulmonary complications from cocaine and cocaine-based substances: imaging manifestations.

Cocaine is the illicit drug whose abuse most often results in cardiopulmonary symptoms and emergency treatment. Habitual smoking of alkaloidal cocaine ("freebase," "crack") has replaced nasal insufflation as the most common method of abuse. Smoking of cocaine exposes the lung directly to the volatilized drug as well as to the other combustion products of the smoked mixture, thereby increasing the risk of adverse pulmonary effects. A wide variety of pulmonary complications including interstitial pneumonitis, fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension, alveolar hemorrhage, asthma exacerbation, barotrauma, thermal airway injury, hilar lymphadenopathies, and bullous emphysema may be associated with the inhalation of crack cocaine or of associated substances such as talc, silica, and lactose. Cocaine abuse represents one of the most serious medical and social problems of our time. Radiologists should be familiar with the various pleuropulmonary complications associated with the abuse of illicit drugs in general and of cocaine in particular to ensure correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment planning in patients with respiratory manifestations associated with such abuse.