First comparative results about the direct effect of traditional cigarette and e-cigarette smoking on lung...

Dynamic inhalation scintigraphy (DIS) with technetium-99m-diethylenetriamine-pentaacetate aerosol is a useful nuclear medicine procedure for staging and monitoring the damage of alveolocapillary membrane. The e-cigarette is a new popular smoking device producing vapor from the nicotine solution. Many studies have shown that e-cigarettes appear to be safer than smoking, but there are still debates to what extent e-cigarettes are less harmful than smoking.In this prospective, self-controlled study, we compared DIS results among volunteers smoking an e-cigarette and their results after they returned to traditional cigarette smoking for a week.

We included 24 healthy volunteers into this study who regularly used e-cigarette containing at least 10 mg nicotine/ml. We performed baseline DIS study in volunteers with e-cigarette smoking and then we asked them to return to traditional cigarette smoking for a week. Conventional respiration tests were also measured. We statistically analyzed the effect of traditional cigarette on clinical parameters and pulmonary clearance of the radiopharmacon.

There was no significant change in the parameters of peak expiratory flow rate and Tiffeneau-Pinelli index respiration tests; forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume in 1 s slightly decreased (P<0.05), whereas the exhaled CO and COHb levels were significantly higher at traditional cigarette use (P<0.0001), and increased in every case. The pulmonary clearance was significantly faster at traditional cigarette smoking compared with e-cigarette use (P<0.0001).

On the basis of our results, we suppose that e-cigarette smoking is less harmful to the lung function than a traditional cigarette, and it can be recommended to heavy smokers who are unable to stop smoking.