Medical image of the week: acute pneumonitis secondary to boric acid exposure

Abstract

No abstract available. Article truncated at 150 words. A 33-year-old man presented with acute severe dyspnea and pleuretic chest pain one day after accidental inhalational exposure to boric acid powder. The patient was spraying boric acid in his apartment to kill bugs and he got trapped in a poorly ventilated area with a cloud of the dusted boric acid for more than a minute. He did not feel any significant symptoms initially. Overnight he started to develop shortness of breath and chest tightness. The patient visited an urgent care where he was reassured due to normal chest radiograph and was given a course of oseltamivir empirically due to a widespread influenza epidemic. After a few hours the patient’s symptoms got much worse and he presented to the emergency department with severe pleuretic chest pain and respiratory distress. The patient required 5 liters of oxygen to keep his saturation above 90%. His chest images showed extensive bilateral airspace disease