Abstract
Lung hernia following minimally invasive mitral valve surgery is an uncommen entity.
We report the case of a male patient who developed a lung hernia as a sequela to limited
access mitral valve surgery. Two months after discharge, the patient presented with
a bulge in the region of the lateral thoracotomy related to respiration which could
be provoked by a Valsalva maneuver. In the night following admission the patient had
acute cardiovascular decompensation with worsening dyspnea, pallor and hypotension.
The patient was quickly transferred to the ICU, where a chest X‐ray revealed the presence
of a large hemothorax with compression of the entire right lung. We transferred the
patient to the operation room, evacuated the hemothorax and reconstructed the 15-cm
long and 3-cm wide dehiscence using a GoreTex patch adapted in a special technique.
Key words
Mitral valve surgery - lung hernia - hemothorax
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469
Thomas Schroeter, MD
Department of Cardiac Surgery
Heart Center Leipzig
Struempellstr. 38
04155 Leipzig
Germany
Phone: +49 3 41 86 50
Fax: +49 34 18 65 22 88
Email: thomas-schroeter@gmx.de
