Massive pulmonary embolism associated with total cardiovascular collapse occurred during the surgical repair of a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm with an aortocaval fistula. Pulmonary artery pressure monitoring permitted immediate diagnosis whereas central venous pressures did not reflect the obstruction to right ventricular outflow. Pulmonary embolectomy without cardiopulmonary bypass was p...

INTRODUCTION The giant left atrium (GLA) is a complication of severe mitral valve disease and causes morbidity by compressing adjacent intra-thoracic structures. CLINICAL PICTURE We report 2 cases of unusual pulmonary complications of the GLA. Case 1 developed recurrent collapse of the left lung due to left main bronchus compression. Case 2 was diagnosed with right middle lobe compression and...

Of 181 patients undergoing major abdominal surgery 116 developed chest complications associated with a metabolic acidosis, low Pco2, depressed tidal volume, increased respiratory rate, but no increase in minute volume. In a matched group of 116 patients given intravenous bicarbonate postoperatively only 15 developed chest complications. This suggests that respiratory physiological dead space de...

THERE is no form of treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis in which such rapid progress has occurred in recent years as collapse therapy. While it came into general use in this country in the form of artificial pneumothorax about 1912, it was only used in the exceptional case for some years. During the writer's experience its use has extended from a small percent of cases with ideal indications t...

Pulmonary surfactant lowers surface tension in the lungs. Physiological studies indicate two key aspects of this function: that the surfactant film forms rapidly; and that when compressed by the shrinking alveolar area during exhalation, the film reduces surface tension to very low values. These observations suggest that surfactant vesicles adsorb quickly, and that during compression, the adsor...

Despite its value in the diagnosis of pericardial disease, two-dimensional echocardiography also is known to produce confounding results. Ten patients had juxtacardiac masses simulating pericardial tumor implants on echocardiographic examination(”pericardial pseudotumor”) caused by juxtacardiac pulmonary atelectasis or lobar collapse. The atelectatic nature of these masses was based on echocard...

The decision to employ collapse therapy in any of its forms is a grave one, and it must only be made after repeated radiological examination and as the result of careful consultation between physician and surgeon. The importance of general sanatorium measures, diet, and more especially, prolonged bed rest, cannot be over-emphasized but there are many cases in which the anatomical and pathologic...

Whatever the exact mechanism involved in the various measures embraced by the term ' collapse therapy' for pulmonary tuberculosis, a feature common to them all is the reduction in volume of the diseased portion of lung. There is ample evidence that the resultant relaxation is beneficial and conducive to healing. Yet, even before the advent of chemotherapy and the progress in thoracic surgery wh...

An 82-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of mild senile dementia and low activity of daily life (ADL) following fracture of the right femoral neck in April 2003. She was treated with conservative therapy. In June 2005, chest X-ray demonstrated left pulmonary collapse (Picture 1) while there was no remarkable change on admission. Chest computed tomography demonstrated severe hia...