Lipoid pneumonia in a gas station attendant.

The exogenous lipoid pneumonia, uncommon in adults, is the result of the inhalation and/or aspiration of lipid material into the tracheobronchial tree. This is often confused with bacterial pneumonia and pulmonary tuberculosis due to a nonspecific clinical and radiologic picture. It presents acutely or chronically and may result in pulmonary fibrosis.

The role of bronchoalveolar lavage in quantifying inhaled particles in silicosis.

Silicosis is a disease caused by inhalation and deposition of crystalline silica that produces a fibrous tissue reaction. Bronchoalveolar lavage is a noninvasive technique that allows identifying particles, thus characterizing exposure to mineral dust. The aim of this work was to study bronchoalveolar lavage as a mean of estimating the amount of alveolar particles in different forms of silicosis.