Vaping linked to teenager’s ‘popcorn lung’ injury that left him unable to breathe

A teenager in Canada has developed a new kind of vaping-related illness similar to “popcorn lung”, according to experts.

Doctors believe the 17-year-old’s condition – a form of bronchiolitis – is linked to the chemical flavouring diacetyl found in electronic cigarettes.

His symptoms are said to be similar to those seen in workers exposed to the flavourings in microwave popcorn.

The previously healthy teenager went to the emergency department of a community hospital in Ontario last spring after developing a severe cough, according to a report published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

He was diagnosed with pneumonia and prescribed antibiotics, only to return five days later when his symptoms became even worse.

Intravenous antibiotics failed to improve his condition and he was put on a mechanical ventilator, with no improvement.

The teenager was then transferred to London Health Sciences Centre for treatment with an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine, which takes over the works of the lungs.

“I was concerned his lungs might never recover enough to get him off the machine,” said study author Dr Karen Bosma, an intensive care physician at London Health.

Fearing he might need a lung transplant, the team transferred the teenager to a regional transplant centre in Toronto and he was put on high-dose steroids to reduce inflammation.

Doctors suspected a vaping-related injury because the patient had reported using both flavored nicotine vapes and THC, the psychoactive agent in marijuana.

But while his case shares similarities with more than 2,000 cases of vaping-related illnesses in the United States, his lung injury was different, doctors said.

Instead of damaged air sacs in the lungs, the patient had damaged airways. “This is a new finding,” said Dr Bosma.

The team focused on diacetyl, which is normally used to give a butter-like flavouring, because it has been shown to cause similar illnesses.

However the doctors admit the “exact mechanism of injury and causative agent are unknown” and call for further research into “all potentially toxic components” in electronic cigarettes.

The teenager still has trouble breathing four months after his discharge from hospital and Dr Bosma said that it is not clear if the teenager’s lungs will recover.

“In patients with popcorn lung, it’s irreversible,” she added.

Additional reporting by Reuters