Self-Stenting with a Crack Pipe: The Ultimate in ‘Managed Care’

A 30-year-old man presented to the emergency department with hemoptysis. Hemoptysis associated with 'crack-cocaine' use may be the result of diffuse alveolar hemorrhage induced by vasoconstriction or direct toxicity of cocaine, cocaine induced rhabdomyolysis, pulmonary infarction, cocaine- induced thrombocytopenia, or foreign body as in this case. The syndrome of crack lung may include pulmonary hemorrhage in combination with chest pain, pulmonary edema, and an interstitial lung process.