Spontaneous resolution of a giant pulmonary bulla in an older woman: role of functional assessment.
Pulmonary bullae usually occur as isolated abnormalities in otherwise normal lung tissue or, more frequently, in the presence of emphysema. Pulmonary bullae tend to progressively increase in their size, and spontaneous regressions have very rarely been reported. In this paper, we report the case of an older woman experiencing the spontaneous resolution of a giant pulmonary bulla. Interestingly, the reported case is characterized by a negligible improvement in respiratory function parameters, despite a substantial increase in the 6-min walking test and the oxygen arteriolar partial pressure.
Scarlata
Simone
S
Centro per la Salute dell'Anziano - Area di Geriatria, Università Campus Bio-Medico, Rome, Italy. s.scarlata@unicampus.it
Cesari
Matteo
M
Caridi
Irene
I
Chiurco
Domenica
D
Antonelli-Incalzi
Raffaele
R
D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011650:Pulmonary Alveoli / Q000473:pathology*; D011656:Pulmonary Emphysema / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012075:Remission, Spontaneous; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed