ABSTRACT
Lung injury may occur following acute inhalation of a toxic gas, or following chronic exposure to pulmonary irritants. The choice of imaging studies and the information sought in the patient with a history of inhalation of a toxic gas varies according to the time elapsed since the acute event. Experimental studies in animals have helped to define more clearly some of the very early radiographic changes that occur following lung injury. The abnormal chest radiograph in the subacute phase of inhalation injury can be considered an example of adult respiratory distress syndrome. Imaging studies may be of greatest value in the subacute phase of inhalation injury, defined as the patient’s hospitalization following the first 24 hr after the acute event. The chronic sequelae of inhalation injury include bronchiolitis obliterans, bronchiectasis, and tracheal stenosis. Tracheal stenosis can occur as a result of chemical irritation of the tracheobronchial mucosa, and also as a result of tracheostomies performed during the patient’s hospitalization.
