Acquired lobar emphysema in a case of interstitial chronic lung disease. Surgical implications and review of the literature

Abstract

Acquired lobar interstitial emphysema (ALIE), initially described in infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia is now known to occur in other conditions such as a secondary post-traumatic or inflammatory injury as in patients requiring ventilatory sup- port with chronic lung disease. The ALIE leads to progressive deterioration of lung function with massive distension and com- pression of lung parenchyma with consequent mediastinal shift in the course of chronic interstitial lung disease. This situation requires adequate clinical and radiological interpretation in order to make the proper patient selection i.e., between a candidate for lung biopsy for the benefit of a definitive diagnosis or one who in the course of a superimposed ALIE requires a diagnostic and therapeutic lobectomy. Two cases of this entity and descriptive decision-making diagnostic and surgical about pre-and intraop- erative findings are presented.