title: Lymphangioleiomyomatosis with a giant bulla: report of a case.
abstract: We report a case of lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) with a giant bulla. A 33-year-old woman was referred to our department for treatment of dyspnea. Chest computed tomography showed a giant bulla with many smaller bullae. To obtain a definitive diagnosis and relieve the dyspnea, we performed a lung biopsy and bullectomy, after which her symptoms and pulmonary function improved remarkably. She was commenced on progesterone, which improved her condition even further. This case report retrospectively follows the progression of her disease from the onset of symptoms 5 years before she was referred to us for treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba 260-8670, Japan.
authors.forename: Taiki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Iyoda
authors.forename: Kenzo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hiroshima
authors.forename: Toshikazu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yusa
authors.forename: Natsuhiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Igarashi
authors.forename: Koichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tatsumi
authors.forename: Mizuto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Otsuji
authors.forename: Yasuo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sekine
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shibuya
authors.forename: Toshihiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iizasa
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Saitoh
authors.forename: Takehiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujisawa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D001999:Bronchoscopy / Q000379:methods; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D018192:Lymphangioleiomyomatosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D011013:Pneumonectomy; D011656:Pulmonary Emphysema / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods; D016896:Treatment Outcome