Abstract
Giant pulmonary cyst in extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants has been described
as one of severe pulmonary diseases. Any definitive therapy for refractory cases,
where conservative methods of treatments are not effective, has not been established
as a standard. Herein, we report an ELBW infant with a giant pulmonary cyst cured
by percutaneous drainage without any adverse events. A female infant was born with
a birth weight of 327 g. Surfactant was administered on days 1 and 2 of life to treat
respiratory distress syndrome. Tracheal intubation was performed and synchronized
intermittent mandatory ventilation was promptly initiated following birth. On the
course, right giant pulmonary cyst developed on day 9 after birth. Although we started
conservative therapy, including right lateral decubitus positioning, high-frequency
oscillatory ventilation, and systemic corticosteroid administration, the diameter
of the cyst had reached 34 mm, and mediastinal displacement was observed on day 28
after birth when she weighed 393 g. She recovered by percutaneous drainage followed
by suction with a pressure of −10 cm H2O under mild sedation for 3 days. We believe that percutaneous drainage can be one
of the available options for unilateral pulmonary interstitial emphysema.
Keywords
drainage - extremely low birth weight infant - pulmonary interstitial emphysema -
respiratory
