Current concepts of inhalation injury in burn victims

Twenty patients with bronchoscopic diagnosis of inhalation injury were reviewed. The history of a burn in a closed space was present in 90% of the patients in our study and evidence of orofacial burns in 100%. In four of these patients serum concentrations of human placental alkaline phosphatate (hPLAP) were determined. This protein can be detected in serum with hPLAP specific monoclonal antibody and increased serum levels of hPLAP are found when there is damage of pneumocyt I cells.