Iatrogenic “buffalo chest” bilateral pneumothoraces following unilateral transbronchial lung biopsies in a bilateral lung transplant recipient

We present a 54 year old male patient who had a bilateral lung transplant sixteen years ago for Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency-related emphysema. He was referred for flexible bronchoscopy with transbronchial biopsies to evaluate new mild exertional dyspnea and worsening of his FEV1. Eight transbronc...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Leith Sawalha, William J. Gibbons
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2015-01-01
Series:Respiratory Medicine Case Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213007115000404
Description
Summary:We present a 54 year old male patient who had a bilateral lung transplant sixteen years ago for Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency-related emphysema. He was referred for flexible bronchoscopy with transbronchial biopsies to evaluate new mild exertional dyspnea and worsening of his FEV1. Eight transbronchial biopsies were done from the right middle lobe and the right lower lobe. Post procedure he developed bilateral pneumothoces that required emergent bilateral pleural ‘pigtail’ catheters. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of bilateral pneumothoraces that developed after a unilateral procedure in a bilateral lung transplant recipient relatively late after the transplant.
ISSN:2213-0071