• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.62-65
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• 1999

Infantile lobar emphysema is an uncommon disease affecting newborns and infants with varying degree of respiratory distress, lobar overaeration, mediastinal shift and herniation. Although the etiology of the condition is most commonly idiopathic, there is a clear association with congenital heart disease, particularly in the presence of pulmonary hypertension due to left to right shunt. Sites of predilection are the left main bronchus, the left upper and right middle bronchi. This report describes a two-week-old boy who had right middle lobe emphysema with large ventricular septal defect. At first, patch closure of perimembranous ventricular septal defect was performed. Postoperatively, the patient required continuing assisted ventilation and the lobar emphysema was not improve. One week following the initial operation, right middle lobectomy was successfully performed and the patient was weaned from artificial ventilator on the 5th postoperative day. The patient was discharged with good general condition on the 45th postoperative day.