Chronic reactive airway disease following Chlorine inhalation lung injury

Abstract

Inhalations of smoke and toxic fumes from chemicals like chlorine are known to cause mild mucosal irritation with lacrimation, nasal congestion, nasopharyngeal edema, transient reversible reactive airways and sometimes acute respiratory failure in the setting of acute respiratory distress syndrome due to bronchospasm, pulmonary consolidation presenting with rapid onset symptoms of cough, wheeze and shortness of breath. Inhalations of these fumes have also been known to cause on rare occasions diffuse bronchiolitis and chronic respiratory sequelae including decreased lung function and persistence of asthma. We are reporting one such rare case report of acute inhalation lung injury that developed progressive shortness of breath and bilateral lung consolidation as a result of inhalation of chlorine fumes from bleaching agents and later recovered on high dose steroids slowly over months only to have chronic reactive airway dysfunction syndrome requiring bronchodilator therapy.