Girl's lung collapsed due to misplaced bronchus

A little girl in Ho Chi Minh City was hospitalized with a nearly completely collapsed lung. The cause was that the right main bronchus originated from the esophagus instead of the trachea.

On July 17, information from the City Children's Hospital said the patient was a 3-month-old girl living in Binh Chanh District (HCMC). The child had been sick for about a week, with a fever and a cough with phlegm, coughing a lot when breastfeeding, having difficulty breathing, and wheezing. At a hospital, the doctor diagnosed the child with bronchitis, treated her with antibiotics but did not improve, so she went to the City Children's Hospital.

Here, the child was lethargic, lips were pale, SpO2 was 80%, chest retraction, and lungs were moist. Chest X-ray results showed severe pneumonia and right lung collapse. The progression became increasingly complicated, the child had severe respiratory failure, was put on CPAP, a ventilator, and changed to broad-spectrum antibiotics. Chest CT scan results showed abnormalities: the right main bronchus originating from the esophagus , near-complete collapse of the right lung, and consolidation of the left lung lobules.

Before surgery, the right lung was collapsed (left X-ray) and gradually expanded after surgery.

According to Dr. Nguyen Minh Tien, Deputy Director of the City Children's Hospital, the main bronchus must branch from the trachea, while this child's main bronchus branches from the esophagus, which is a rare airway abnormality. The child needs to be reconstructed according to the correct respiratory anatomy and function.

After using antibiotics to stabilize the infection, the team planned the surgery. The child underwent surgery to cut and connect the right main bronchus to the trachea, and sutured the esophageal opening where the right bronchus had been inserted before. After more than a week of intensive treatment, the right lung expanded. The patient was taken off the ventilator after nearly a month and was able to breathe fresh air on his own.

GIAO SPIRIT

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/be-gai-xep-phoi-vi-phe-quan-nham-cho-post749696.html