Low‐voltage electricity‐induced lung injury

Abstract

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.

A Case Report: Low Voltage Electric Injuries Culminating in Cardiac Arrest and Direct Lung Injury

“…Although the real incidence of direct lung damage is unclear, it is a rare phenomenon [ 6 ]. Two distinct patterns are described in the literature: pneumomediastinum [ 7 ] and parenchymal/interstitium lesions that vary from non-cardiogenic edema to consolidation [ 6 , 8 ]. This patient presented with a thorax CT scan that showed bilateral ground-glass opacities.…”

“…Other case reports published also present patients with ground-glass opacities [ 8 ] after electrical injury but only Truong and associates [ 6 ] described a case caused by LVI.…”

“…Voltage-induced lung injury has been demonstrated in case reports. Although the real incidence of direct lung damage is unclear, it is a rare phenomenon [6]. Two distinct patterns are described in the literature: pneumomediastinum [7] and parenchymal/interstitium lesions that vary from non-cardiogenic edema to consolidation [6,8].…”

Lesión pulmonar por trauma eléctrico

“…La lesión focal del pulmón también se ha descrito en un empleado después de exposición a energía de baja tensión (380 voltios) complicado con paro cardiorespiratorio y edema cerebral (9) . El quinto caso se trató de un paciente de 58 años que sufrió contacto con cable de baja tensi ón sufriendo quemadura eléctrica y que desarrolló infiltrados pulmonares bilaterales complicados con hemóptisis (10) . El sexto se trató de un paciente de 22 años quien contactó con un cable de alta tensión, evolucionando con derrame pleural y zonas de atel ectasia requiriendo asistencia respiratoria mecánica y drenaje pleural (11) .…”

Arrhythmiarizikó és cardialis szövődmények áramütéses balesetet követően

“…Ezek fokális vagy diffúz tüdőparenchyma-károsodásról számolnak be, változóan súlyos klinikai képpel [16,17]. Szekunder pulmonalis eltéréseket okozhat az akut balszívfél-elégtelenség (tüdőödéma; l. cardialis komplikációk) vagy az elektromos balesetet kísérő tűz során a toxikus gázok belégzése.…”