A Case of Severe Interstitial Pneumonia Which Seemed to be Caused by Welpas® Inhalation

Inhalation of Welpas(R) (80% ethyl alcohol and 0.2% benzalkonium chloride) occurred in a 72-year-old male who had undergone left pneumonectomy. He inhaled a small quantity of Welpas(R) with an ultranebulizer five days after total gastrectomy.He experienced chest pain the following day and four days later his temperature rose to over 38°C. Seven days later, he had respiratory failure necessitating mechanical ventilation. Chest radiophotography showed reticular shadow in most of the lung. We tried to wean the patient from mechanical ventilation and extubated the endotracheal tube but failed because PaO2 dropped rapidly to dangerous level. The patient died of multiple organ failure a month later.We tried to show that Welpas(R) can cause interstitial pneumonia in rats by injecting Welpas(R) into their trachea. Benzalkonium chloride induced pulmonary fibrosis in the rat after 5 days. This fact supports our hypothesis of Welpus induced interstitial pneumonia in case use report.