Lung Function in Patients Operated for Chronic Pleural Empyema

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate lung function after lung decortication in patients operated for chronic pleural empyema. Methods and Materials: To determine the lung function after lung decortication in 20 men (71.4 %) and 8 women (28.6 %) a prospective evaluation of blood gases, spirometry, lung perfusion, ventilation, and alveolar permeability were performed 28 weeks (15 - 60 weeks) after the operation. Results: Median lung perfusion on the affected side was 45.2 % (26.1 - 55.3 %) in 13 right and 36 % (13.8 - 47.2 %) in 15 left empyemas, and was within normal limits in 4/28 cases. The mean lung ventilation was 44.4 % (21.5 - 54 %) and 37 % (18.9 - 50.6 %) in patients affected on the right or left side, respectively. Ventilation perfusion inequality occurred in 22 patients (78.6 %). Dynamic ventilation scintigraphy revealed impairment of epithelial integrity in 10 cases (35.7 %). Individual analysis revealed that 15 patients (53.6 %) showed a severe reduction in one of the examinations and 8 (28.6 %) in more than one. Conclusions: Although the separate analysis of the different functional parameters revealed a mild reduction of lung function after decortication, in the majority of patients the impairment was more severe due to multilevel functional lung damage.

Key words

Chronic pleural empyema - lung function - lung decortication - scintigraphy

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