Pneumonitis following diesel fuel siphonage.

Petroleum diesel is a complex mixture of liquid hydrocarbons and mainly used as fuel in transport vehicles. The practice of manual siphoning of diesel from fuel tanks is common in developing countries but hydrocarbon pneumonitis due to diesel siphonage is rarely reported. We report pneumonitis following diesel fuel siphonage in a 30-year-old driver. Initially patient had severe nausea and vomiting followed by chest pain and breathlessness after three days. In our case, induced sputum was diagnostic as against majority of cases where bronchoscopy was used as diagnostic tool. Recovery was complete with medical treatment.