A 19-Year-Old Man With Vaping-Associated Lung Injury

A regional critical care transport team was called to a large community referral center to transport a 19-year-old man on veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation to a quaternary care facility for definitive care and evaluation for a possible bilateral lung transplant. This young man had a past medical history of moderately controlled asthma as well as a history of heavy “vaping” both nicotine and cannabis products for the previous 3 years. It was reported that the patient would use greater than 2 vape cartridges per day during this time period. He initially presented to his primary care physician for a persistent and worsening cough over the preceding week with accompanied fevers, chills, and rigors. After completing a detailed history and examination, the patient was advised to report to a local hospital for further examination and care. Jacob Gutsche, MD, is board certified in cardiothoracicanesthesiology and critical care medicine. He is the medical director of Penn–Presbyterian Medical Center and codirector of the Penn Lung Rescue program with Penn Medicine in Philadelphia, PA. Racheal Pasternak, BSN, CCRN, CFRN, Doug Campbell NRP, FP-C, and J.L. Schili NRP, FP-C, are employed by Penn Medicine and assigned to the system's PennSTAR Flight Team as is Patrick J. Boyle, MS, NRP, FP-C, who is additionally a second-year medical student at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Peter Tilney, DO, FACEP, EMT-P, is a board-certified emergency physician at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. He is also a medical direction for Life Flight of Maine and can be reached at [email protected]