Exogenous lipoid pneumonia secondary to Vaseline application to the tracheostomy in a laryngectomy patient: PET/CT and MR imaging findings

A 67-year-old female ex-smoker was referred to our hospital after chest radiographs revealed a nonresolving opacity in the right lower lung. Her past medical history was significant for laryngeal cancer. A whole-body positron emission tomography/computed tomography (CT) confirmed an ill-defined fluorodeoxyglucose-avid peribronchial opacity in the right middle and inferior lobes. The CT component of the study showed focal areas of low attenuation within the lung opacity; these focal areas followed fat signal intensity on a magnetic resonance study, confirming the suspicion of exogenous lipoid pneumonia. The patient admitted to applying petroleum jelly (Vaseline) to her tracheostomy in order to moisturize the area around the stoma.