title: Omentoplasty and thoracoplasty for treating postpneumonectomy bronchopleural fistula in a patient previously submitted to aortic prosthesis implantation.
abstract: Bronchopleural fistula following pneumonectomy is a serious and frightening complication in chest surgery with a high mortality rate. The possibility of curing this complication using a conservative treatment is extremely poor. Below we describe a case of a patient affected by left pleural empyema due to a postpneumonectomy bronchopleural fistula. The patient had previously undergone an aortic prosthesis implantation. He was successfully treated using omental pedicle in order to cover the bronchial stump, to fill the pleural space and to protect the aortic prosthesis. He also underwent thoracoplasty to collapse the residual pleural space. The postoperative course was uneventful. During the follow-up, after thirty months, the patient was asymptomatic, and no recurrence of the fistula was present.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery-Thoracic and Transplant Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milano, Italy. mario.nosotti@unimi.it
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nosotti
authors.forename: Ugo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Cioffi
authors.forename: Matilde
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Simone
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mendogni
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Palleschi
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rosso
authors.forename: Michele M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Ciulla
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Santambrogio
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000601:surgery; D001983:Bronchial Fistula / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D016724:Empyema, Pleural / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D019918:Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009852:Omentum / Q000601:surgery*; D010995:Pleural Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D011013:Pneumonectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D013905:Thoracoplasty / Q000379:methods*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed