Airway Obstruction and Patchy Parenchymal Infiltrations Related to Tear Gas Exposure

Abstract

A 50 year old nonsmoker female patient with respiratory complaints including phlegm and effort-related dyspnea admitted to the hospital. Anamnesis pointed out neither occupational nor hobby-related exposures. However, she mentioned several intense tear gas exposures, and describe dyspnea and wheezing right after these exposures. Computed tomography of the lung showed patchy areas of consolidation and ground glass opacity. Pulmonary function tests revealed an FEV1/FVC ratio of 67%. Chlorobenzylidene malononitrile (CS) gas related pulmonary involvement was evident due to the lack of lesions on previous radiographs, improvement of her complaints and respiratory function test, and regression of the parenchymal lesions after ceasing the exposure. This case is presented to emphasize the importance of taking detailed anamnesis of the patient and to demonstrate the negative impacts of physical and social environment on human health, and more specifically to suggest that the riot control gases used are not as harmless as believed.