Successful Treatment of a Term Neonate Developing Severe Pulmonary Interstitial Emphysema Unrelated to Mechanical Ventilation; the First Reported Case in Korea

Abstract

Air leak syndrome is one of the main causes of respiratory failure which is defined as air escapes from intra-alveolar to extra-alveolar areas. The incidence of spontaneous air leak syndrome in premature infants is about 1-2%. Pulmonary interstitial emphysema (PIE) is a form of air leak syndrome which usually occurs in infants with poor lung compliance (such as respiratory distress syndrome) on inadequate mechanical ventilation. On the other hand, air leak syndrome in term infants without underlying lung disease is very rare. Especially, there is only one report in Korea regarding PIE in term infants who finally underwent surgery. We experienced a case of a term infant who developed severe PIE unrelated to conventional mechanical ventilation and successfully treated by high-frequency ventilation care without any invasive procedure.