• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.161-165
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• 2001

Acute bilateral reexpansion pulmonary edema after pleurocentesis is a rare complication. In one case, bilateral reexpansion pulmonary edema after unilateral pleurocentensis in sarcoma was reported. Various hypotheses regarding the mechanism of reexpansion pulmonary edema include increased capillary permeability due to hypoxic injury, decreased surfactant production, altered pulmonary perfusion and mechanical stretching of the membranes. Ragozzino et al suggested that the mechanism leading to unilateral reexpansion pulmonary edema involves the opposite lung when there is significant contralateral lung compression. Here we report a case of bilateral reexpansion pulmonary edema and acute respiratory distress syndrome after a unilateral pleurocentesis of a large pleural effusion with contralateral lung compression and increased interstitial lung marking underlying chronic liver disease.