Exogenous lipid pneumonia is a rare disease resulting from the aspiration or inhalation of vegetable, animal, or mineral oils. In Korea, the most frequently implicated agent is squalen, which can be obtained from shark liver oil. Lipid pneumonia by aspiration of the vegetable oil is very rare. We experienced a 77-year-old man with a history of ingestion of green perilla oil. His clinical course was favorable; after exposure to the oil was stopped, the patient's symptoms improved.
Simple chest radiograph shows ground glass appearance in right lower lung field at admission (A) and almost complete resolution after exposure stopped (B).
Computed tomography scan of the chest shows multifocal ground glass opacity in right middle and lower lobe.
Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from right lower lobe shows yellowish lipid layer on the surface (arrow).