Pulmonary gangrene: a case report.
Pulmonary gangrene is a rare complication of severe pulmonary infection in which a pulmonary segment or lobe is sloughed. In the English literature, pulmonary gangrene secondary to bacterial infection is uncommon, and fewer to other etiologies. Characteristic roentgen patterns of a mass within a cavity is the hallmark of this disease, which differentiates from a lung abscess. Some authors have emphasized that surgical resection of the infected lobe is the principal option of treatment. In contrast, some have advocated that patients with pulmonary gangrene can be managed with medical therapy. Recently we successfully treated a case of pulmonary gangrene with appropriate antibiotics and percutaneous small bore catheter drainage, even though the complication of bronchopleural fistula was encountered, which led to prolonged hospitalization. The serial roentgenograms and the pictures of computed tomography (CT) will be demonstrated.
Hsu
H S
HS
Department of Chest Medicine, Veterans General Hospital-Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Chern
M S
MS
Chen
C H
CH
Perng
R P
RP
D005734:Gangrene; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged