title: Contralateral pneumothorax in bullous lung after pneumonectomy: report of two cases.
abstract: Contralateral pneumothorax after pneumonectomy is potentially fatal. We experienced two cases of right pneumothorax after left pneumonectomy in which the patients had multiple bullae in the right lung. Case 1 involved a 49-year-old man with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who underwent left pneumonectomy after induction chemoradiotherapy. Eleven months after surgery, he had pneumothorax and was treated with chest tube drainage and pleurodesis. He was discharged but died of recurrent pneumothorax 1 month later. Case 2 involved a 57-year-old man with NSCLC who had left pneumonectomy. Five months after surgery, he had pneumothorax and was treated with chest tube drainage. Because of prolonged air leak, ligation of the ruptured bulla was performed with a percutaneous cardiopulmonary support system on standby. No pneumothorax recurrence occurred for 2 years. Although management of pneumothorax after pneumonectomy is challenging, surgical intervention may be useful and necessary especially when there is high risk of recurrent pneumothorax.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Okayama University Hospital, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Okayama 700-8558, Japan. masashifurukawa2000@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Furukawa
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oto
authors.forename: Shinichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Toyooka
authors.forename: Junichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Soh
authors.forename: Masaomi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamane
authors.forename: Shinichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miyoshi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001768:Blister / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000601:surgery; D015505:Chest Tubes / Q000009:adverse effects; D004322:Drainage / Q000009:adverse effects; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018700:Pleurodesis / Q000009:adverse effects; D011013:Pneumonectomy / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods; D011030:Pneumothorax / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery