Ventilation and Pulmonary Endothelium Toxicities of E-cigarettes: A Randomized Crossover Pilot Study

Determination of the acute pulmonary toxicities of e-cigarettes in young adults is of major public health importance, as e-cigarette vapor contains established toxicants that as hypothesized cause acute damage to the airways and the pulmonary microvasculature that may promote the development of CLD, for which there remain few effective therapies. The study therefore propose a pilot study using a randomized crossover design in ten healthy young adults to test the acute effects of a standardized e-cigarette exposure on two sensitive, safe, non-invasive imaging measures: (1) ventilation defects on hyperpolarized helium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging, and (2) pulmonary microvascular blood flow on gadolinium-enhanced pulmonary magnetic resonance angiography.