Vaping and e-cigarette use. Mysterious lung manifestations and an epidemic

Curr Opin Immunol. 2020 Oct:66:143-150. doi: 10.1016/j.coi.2020.10.003. Epub 2020 Nov 10.

Abstract

Electronic (e)-cigarette use and the practice of vaping has rapidly expanded both in adult smokers and previously nicotine naïve youths. Research has focused on harm reduction in adults using e-cigarettes to stop or reduce traditional cigarette use, but the short and long-term safety of these products has not been established. Vaping has more recently been associated with a growing list of pulmonary complications with the most urgent being the e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury (EVALI) epidemic. This review details the inhalant toxicology of vaping products, the described lung diseases associated with vaping with a focus on EVALI, and the predicted long-term consequences of e-cigarette use, including increased asthma severity.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems*
  • Humans
  • Lung Injury / chemically induced*
  • Lung Injury / epidemiology
  • Vaping*