Teen develops 'wet lung' after vaping for just 3 weeks

Story highlights

  • An 18-year-old experienced difficulty breathing and chest pains after using an e-cigarette
  • Her doctors diagnosed hypersensitivity pneumonitis, or "wet lung"

(CNN)An 18-year-old woman working as a hostess in a rural Pennsylvania restaurant decided to try e-cigarettes, perhaps another of the innumerable bistro workers hoping to calm frayed nerves with a smoke -- or in this case, a vape.

E-cigarettes heat liquid and turn it into vapor, which a user inhales and then exhales in a large puffy cloud. The liquid is known as e-juice, and it contains flavorings, propylene glycol, glycerin and often nicotine -- though many users are unaware of this final addictive ingredient.
    Soon, the young woman experienced what is commonly known as respiratory failure, said Dr. Daniel Weiner, one of the patient's doctors, a co-author of the new report and a medical director at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh at UPMC.
    Dr. Casey Sommerfeld, the patient's pediatrician and lead author of the study, said chemicals in the e-cigarettes led to lung damage and inflammation, which triggered the woman's body to mount an immune response.
    "This immune response can lead to increased inflammation and 'leaky' blood vessels, which can lead to fluid accumulation in the lungs," said Sommerfeld, now a general pediatrician at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

    'More case reports and side effects'

    "It is difficult to speculate on how frequently this could happen; however, there are a few case reports involving adults that developed respiratory distress following electronic cigarette use," Sommerfeld said. "As electronic cigarette use increases, we will be seeing more case reports and side effects."
    Jaspers, who was not involved in the study, added that even though it describes just one patient, it "highlights the importance of potential adverse health effects associated with e-cigarette use."
    Additionally, the diagnosis of symptoms related to a number of serious lung conditions suggests that the negative health effects of e-cigarettes may "manifest in several different ways," she said.

    'Risky behavior'

    Sommerfeld noted that, as vaping products contain nicotine, "vaping can cause side effects including dizziness, headaches, nausea, racing heart, anxiety and difficulty with sleep. Nicotine is known to be addictive, and children can become hooked on electronic cigarettes."
    "I hope we can find a way to quickly reverse this trend," Jaspers said.
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    Sommerfeld agreed. Using e-cigarettes "normalizes" smoking, she said, and is linked to an "increased likelihood of using typical cigarettes or tobacco products." For this reason, vaping and electronic cigarette use should be included in discussions of "risky behavior" with teens, she said.