Acute lipoid pneumonia caused by accidental aspiration of vaseline used in nasogastric intubation

Exogenous lipoid pneumonia is a rare disease which is often underdiagnosed. Exogenous lipoid pneumonia has traditionally been considered a chronic process secondary to continued aspiration or inhalation of fatty substances. In its acute form exogenous lipoid pneumonia sometimes coincides with accidental massive aspiration of lipidic material, as has been traditionally described for fire eaters. We review the literature and report a case of acute lipoid pneumonia secondary to accidental aspiration of vaseline used to place a nasogastric tube, which had been inserted for gastric lavage after a suicide attempt by flurazepam ingestion.