Oils and Fats

The six cases reported here have in common the occurrence in the lungs of a large amount of material of a fatty or oily nature. In attempting to determine as accurately as possible the source and nature of this material in each instance, it has become clear, beyond reasonable doubt, that its entrance into the lungs was by way of the trachea. The literature on this subject is scanty. In 1920, Guieysse-Pellissier1studied the lungs of rabbits and dogs following intratracheal injections of olive oil. He found the alveoli filled with large mononuclear cells which had engulfed the oil (and which he considered as of epithelial origin), and also with polymorphonuclears and eosinophils. He thought that these epithelial cells contained lipase, and were capable of dissolving and absorbing the oil to a considerable extent. In 1922, Corper and Freed2published the results of intratracheal injections of chaulmoogra oil,