Girl's lung collapsed due to misplaced bronchus

A young girl in Ho Chi Minh City was hospitalized with a nearly complete collapse of her lung. The cause was that the right main bronchus originated from the esophagus instead of the trachea.

Illustrative image

On July 17th, information from the City Children's Hospital indicated that the patient was a 3-month-old girl residing in Binh Chanh District (Ho Chi Minh City). The child had been ill for about a week, experiencing fever and intermittent coughing with phlegm, coughing more frequently while breastfeeding, difficulty breathing, and wheezing. At another hospital, doctors diagnosed the child with bronchitis and treated her with antibiotics, but her condition did not improve, so she was brought to the City Children's Hospital.

Here, the child was lethargic, with pale lips, SpO2 80%, chest retraction during breathing, and moist rales in the lungs. Chest X-ray revealed severe pneumonia and right lung collapse. The condition worsened progressively, with severe respiratory failure requiring CPAP, mechanical ventilation, and a switch to broad-spectrum antibiotics. A CT scan of the lungs revealed 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 image) and gradually expanded after the surgery.

According to Dr. Nguyen Minh Tien, Deputy Director of the City Children's Hospital, the main bronchus usually branches in the trachea, but this child's branch originates from the esophagus, a rare airway abnormality. The child needs reconstructive surgery to restore its anatomical and respiratory function.

After aggressive antibiotic treatment to stabilize the infection, the surgical team planned the operation. The child underwent surgery to resect and anastomose the right main bronchus to the trachea, and suture the esophageal opening where the right bronchus had previously attached to close. After more than a week of intensive treatment, the right lung expanded. The patient was weaned off the ventilator after nearly a month and was breathing ambient air on their own.

GIAO LINH

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