Successful Treatment of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome from Hydrofluoric Acid Inhalation

Hydrofluoric acid (HF) is an industrial chemical widely used in many industries, including industries of the aluminum, steel, fertilier, glass, ceramic, and brick. In a variety of settings, HF is a pollutant usually created in an industrial process (1). Studies showed that concentrated HF contamination may cause a fatal outcome even if small areas of body surface are exposed (2,3). The case reported here is acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) due to accidental inhalation of HF. In cases of refractory hypoxemia, extracoporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is becoming an acceptable rescue therapy. We believe severe hypoxemic respiratory failure as a result of ARDS caused by inhalation of HF in which venovenous-ECMO (VV-ECMO) was used successfully as a bridge to lung recovery has not been previous reported