Lipoid pneumonia in Korea: A case report and review of the literature of Korean cases

Lipoid pneumonia, which results from aspiration of mineral oil, animal oil, or vegetable oil, is a rare lung disease. This study was designed to investigate the clinical features of lipoid pneumonia in Korea. We collected data regarding the demographic and clinical characteristics in 40 patients aged ⩾20 years who had suffered from lipoid pneumonia in Korea between 1965 and 2006. Our three cases of lipoid pneumonia were added. There were 31 male patients and 9 female patients, and the mean age was 57 years. The mean length of time from ingestion of causative agents to the establishment of diagnosis was 359 days. The most common causative agent was shark liver oil (37 cases, 93%). The definitive diagnosis was established by bronchoalveolar lavage in 15 cases (40%), and open-lung biopsy in 4 cases (11%). Lipoid pneumonia was successfully treated by the discontinuation of the causative agent in most cases. Lipoid pneumonia in Korea mainly occurred in male adults aged more than 50 years, and the most common causative agent was animal oil. The duration of taking oil was shorter by a mean of 1 year than that in other foreign countries.