Abstract

Fire-eater’s pneumonia is an unusual disorder caused by the acute aspiration of petroleum or other hydrocarbon products during a performance of fire-eating show. A 19-year-old male patient admitted to the emergency department because  of productive cough, fever and dispnea. The patient reported an acute aspiration of a mixture of kerosene and brandy occurring during a flame-blowing show three days prior of his admission. The chest roentgenogram at the admission showed alveolar opacities at lower lung fields. The treatment of patient was initiated with an antibiotic, bronchodilators and corticosteroids. The chest roentgenogram obtained at the third day of the therapy demonstrated cavity formation into the consolidated areas. The CT scan of thorax showed bilateral well-defined nodules at different sizes with or without cavitation. Clinical symptoms improved 7 days later. The chest x-ray findings regressed partially 10 days later. The complete resolution of the pneumonia was observed at the 5th month follow-up visit.