Total pleurectomy as the surgical treatment for recurrent secondary spontaneous pneumothorax in a child with severe pulmonary Langerhans cells histiocytosis.
Pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) in children is more extensive and is a rare cause of spontaneous secondary pneumothorax (SSP) which tends to be recurrent and refractory to conventional treatment. Its occurrence in paediatric patients posed great challenge to the choice of surgical management. Surgery in the form of pleurodesis is only considered if SSP does not improve after chemotherapy and after considering all relevant risk and benefits of surgery to patients. Chemical pleurodesis will not give the expected effect to eradicate SSP in this patient. Therefore mechanical pleurodesis is the treatment of choice. There are various techniques to perform mechanical pleurodesis; from pleural abrasion to pleurectomy. In the authors' experience, bilateral total pleurectomy provided the best outcome for this 9-year-old patient with persistent respiratory distress from SSP due to extensive pulmonary LCH.
Department of Surgery, National University of Malaysia (UKM) Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. dayanganita@yahoo.co.uk
Dayang Anita
DA
Abdul Aziz
Nur Afdzillah
NA
Abdul Rahman
Swee Fong
SF
Tang
Hasniah
H
Abdul Latif
Faizah Mohd
FM
Zaki
Zulfiqar Mohd
ZM
Annuar
Hamidah
H
Alias
Zarina
Z
Abdul Latiff
D002648:Child; D006646:Histiocytosis, Langerhans-Cell / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010994:Pleura / Q000601:surgery*; D011030:Pneumothorax / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery*; D012008:Recurrence; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed