Adenocarcinoma masked by re-expansion pulmonary edema after chest drainage for pneumothorax

Abstract

Re-expansion pulmonary edema is a rare complication that may occur after chest drainage performed for pneumothorax. This condition manifests as areas of ground-glass opacities (GGO) and septal thickening on imaging studies. In the case reported here, chest computed tomography (CT) showed diffuse ground-glass opacity secondary to ruptured bullae in a patient who underwent chest tube drainage for pneumothorax, suggesting re-expansion pulmonary edema. Histopathological examination of lung tissue resected from the vicinity of the bullae showed focal adenocarcinoma, which was masked by re-expansion pulmonary edema on preoperative computed tomography. Right upper lobectomy with mediastinal lymph node dissection was performed on postoperative day 3.

Keywords: Adenocarcinoma; computed tomography; ground-glass opacity; pneumothorax; re-expansion pulmonary edema.