Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84158, USA.
Pediatrics. 2011 Feb;127(2):e509-12. doi: 10.1542/peds.2010-1312. Epub 2011 Jan 3.
Humidifiers are commonly used in the community to relieve symptoms associated with acute respiratory infections in young children; however, clear benefits of these devices have not been documented. The Environmental Protection Agency has not found any adverse health effects related to humidifier use. We report here the case of a young infant with significant accidental inhalational lung injury related to dispersal of mineral dust from an ultrasonic home-use humidifier. The clinical consequences included prolonged hypoxemia, tachypnea, and failure to thrive. Radiography revealed pneumonitis, and pulmonary-function testing showed a nonreversible mild obstructive ventilatory defect. Because of persistent symptoms, evolution of failure to thrive, and nonresponse to inhaled and short courses of systemic glucocorticoids, an aggressive management approach was successfully pursued with high-dose pulse steroid therapy, which could be a potential therapeutic approach for similar patients. In addition, this case raises important questions about the safety of exposing infants and young children to humidifiers and emphasizes the need for further study.
加湿器常用于缓解幼儿急性呼吸道感染相关症状；然而，这些设备的明确益处尚未被证实。美国环境保护署未发现加湿器使用与任何不良健康影响相关。我们在此报告一例因超声家用加湿器散布矿物粉尘而导致婴幼儿严重意外吸入性肺损伤的病例。临床表现包括长时间低氧血症、呼吸急促和生长发育迟缓。影像学检查显示间质性肺炎，肺功能检查显示不可逆转的轻度阻塞性通气障碍。由于持续存在症状、生长发育迟缓以及对吸入和短期全身糖皮质激素治疗无反应，我们采用大剂量脉冲类固醇治疗的积极治疗方法取得了成功，这可能是治疗类似患者的一种潜在方法。此外，该病例提出了关于将婴幼儿暴露于加湿器是否安全的重要问题，并强调需要进一步研究。
