Association between ventilatory settings and pneumothorax in extremely preterm neonates

OBJECTIVES: Pneumothorax is a catastrophic event associated with high morbidity and mortality, and it is relatively common in neonates. This study aimed to investigate the association between ventilatory parameters and the risk of developing pneumothorax in extremely low birth weight neonates. METHODS: This single-center retrospective cohort study analyzed 257 extremely low birth weight neonates admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit between January 2012 and December 2017. A comparison was carried out to evaluate the highest value of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP), peak inspiratory pressure (PIP), and driving pressure (DP) in the first 7 days of life between neonates who developed pneumothorax and those who did not. The primary outcome was pneumothorax with chest drainage necessity in the first 7 days of life. A matched control group was created in order to adjust for cofounders associated with pneumothorax (CRIB II score, birth weight, and gestational age). RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference in PEEP, PIP, and DP values in the first 7 days of life between extremely low birth weight neonates who had pneumothorax with chest drainage necessity and those who did not have pneumothorax, even after adjusting for potential cofounders. CONCLUSIONS: Pressure-related ventilatory settings in mechanically ventilated extremely low birth weight neonates are not associated with a higher risk of pneumothorax in the first 7 days of life.

Analysis of correlation between donor graft cells subsets and the progression of non-infectious pulmonary complications in children after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation / 中华检验医学杂志

Objective:This study aims to analyze the counts (per kilogram of body weight) or percentages of transplanted lymphocyte subgroups in children with non-infectious pulmonary complications (NIPC) and air-leak syndrome (ALS) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) and explore its significance in the progression of lung complications after transplantation.Methods:The patients with NIPC and ALS after allo-HSCT from January 2013 to December 2019 in Hebei Yanda Ludaopei Hospital were retrospectively studied and the influencing factors in the progress of NIPC after HSCT were statistically analyzed.Results:Of the 2026 children who received HSCT treatment, 59 patients (34 males and 25 females) developed NIPC, the probability was 2.9% (59/2 026), and the probability of combined ALS was 1.4% (28/206). The differences in the comparison between NIPC progressed to ALS group (ALS group) and failed to progress to ALS group (non-ALS group) in the patient′s age( P=0.028), disease condition before transplantation( P=0.022), NIPC onset time( P=0.004) were significant. The P values of the percentage of NKT-like cells in the bone marrow ( P=0.008) or peripheral stem cells ( P=0.003) accounted for the lymphocytes. CD4+CD25+dim cells in bone marrow ( P=0.029) or peripheral stem cells ( P=0.036) accounted for the CD4+lymphocytes and the ratio of CD4/CD8 in bone marrow( P=0.004) or peripheral stem cells ( P=0.020) were less than 0.05, which meant the differences in patients′ refusion cells were significant. In the binary logistic regression model, the percentage of bone marrow NKT-like cells to lymphocytes, the ratio of bone marrow CD4+/CD8+and the percentage of peripheral stem NK cells to lymphocytes were important risk factors for the progression of NIPC to ALS. The rest factors were excluded from the model (AUC=0.918, P<0.05). Conclusion:During allo-HSCT transplantation, a high proportion of NKT-like cell and NK cell levels, and a high CD4+/CD8+ratio in the infusion of donors with high immune tolerance have an important correlation with the progression of the NIPC.

A Case of Congenital Bronchial Defect Resulting in Massive Posterior Pneumomediastinum: First Case Report / 대한주산의학회잡지

Bronchial defects in neonates are known to occur very rarely as a complication of mechanical ventilation or intubation. This causes persistent air leakage that may form massive pneumomediastinum or pneumothorax, leading to cardiac tamponade or cardiorespiratory deterioration. Early diagnosis and treatment of bronchial defects are essential, as they can be accompanied by underlying severe lung parenchymal diseases, especially in preterm infants. We encountered an extremely low birth weight infant with an air cyst cavity in the posterior mediastinum that displaced the heart anteriorly, thereby causing cardiopulmonary deterioration. During exploratory-thoracotomy, after division of the air cyst wall (mediastinal pleura), we found a small bronchial defect in the posterior side of the right main bronchus. The patient had shown respiratory distress syndrome at birth, and she was managed by constant low positive pressure ventilation using a T-piece resuscitator after gentle intubation. As the peak inspiratory pressure was maintained low throughout and because intubation was successful at the first attempt without any difficulty, we think that the cause of the defect was not barotrauma or airway injury during intubation. The fact that the margin of the defect was very clear also suggested a congenital origin. To our knowledge, this is the first case of congenital bronchial defect in English literature.

Pulmonary interstitial emphysema complicating pneumonia in an unventilated term infant.

A case of pulmonary interstitial emphysema with pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum complicating pneumonia in a 6-week-old infant is reported. The patient had no history of resuscitation, bag and mask ventilation, nasal continuous positive airway pressure or mechanical ventilation.

Recurrent Secondary Pneumothorax Caused by Bronchiolitis Obliterans Due to Chronic Graft Versus Host Disease in a Patient with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia after Allogenic Bone Marrow Transplantation / 결핵및호흡기질환

Bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) is a nonspecific inflammatory injury affecting primarily the small airways. Its inflammatory process is characterized by fibrotic obliteration of the lumen of bronchioles. BO can be idiopathic or associated with connective tissue disease, inhaled toxins, infections, drugs, and chronic graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD). Pulmonary complications occur in 40~60% of patients who undergo allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT), causing 10~40% of transplant-related deaths. BO is a characteristic pulmonary complication which occurs usually within a few years after BMT. Documented complications of BO include air-leak syndromes such as pneumomediastinum, subcutaneous emphysema and pneumothorax. We report a case of a 30-year-old male patient with BO due to chronic GVHD after allogenic BMT who presented with recurrent bilateral pneumothoraces.

A Case of Severe Air Leak Syndrome Treated with High - Frequency Oscillatory Ventilation ( HFOV )

In air leak syndrome, a significant portion of the volume delivered during a positive pressure breath can be lost through the leak. HFOV can achieve adequate ventilation at lower peak and/or mean intrapulmonary pressure than conventional mechanical ventilation (CMV) and has been an effective treatment of already established air leak syndrome. We report a 1-day-old male infant with severe respiratory failure from pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum, who was refractory to CMV with chest tube drainage. HFOV was applied to this patient for 114 hours, and improvement of oxygenation and ventilation as well as significant reduction of pneumothorax followed.

Pulmonary Air Leak Syndrome Associated with Respiratory Disease in Infancy and Childhood

PURPOSE: Pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum and subcutaneous emphysema rarely complicate pediatric respiratory disease such as bronchial asthma, bronchiolitis, bronchopneumonia. But physicians unfamiliar with natural history of these complications may feel that surgical intervention is necessary. So this study was done to to recognize the pulmonary air leak syndrome associated with respiratory disease in infancy and childhood. METHODS: I reviewed retrospectively the medical records and X-ray films of 6 patients with air leak syndromes associated with respiratory disease in the department of pediatrics, Soonchunhyang Chunan hospital, during the 2 year 3months from January, 1994 to April, 1996. RESULTS: 1) Among 2861 patients, pulmonary air leak syndrome were observed in 6 patients. Pulmonary air leak syndromes were seen in 4 patients among 501 patients with bronchial asthma, 1 patient among 106 patients with lobar pneumonia, 1 patient among 969 patients with bronchopneumonia. 2) Among 6 patients, 4 patients were bronchial asthma, 1 patient was lobar pneumonia and 1 patient was bronchopneumonia. 3) Concerning the location of pulmonary air leak syndrome, pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum, subcutaneous emphysema were observed in one case (Table 1, case 2), both pneumomediastinum and subcutaneous emphysema were observed in two cases (Table 1, case 1, 4). In three cases, only one of pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum and subcutaneous emphysema was observed (Table 1, case 3, 5, 6). 4) When the predisposing disease was bronchial asthma, the occurrance of pulmonary air leak syndrome was noted in first attack. 5) All of the cases improved with conservative treatment and two cases of pneumothorax was recieved closed thoracotomy. 6) All patients improved without any sequelae and there were no recurrance. CONCLUSIONS: Pulmonary air leak syndrome such as pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum, subcutaneous emphysema is rarely complicated pediatric respiratory diseases. The most common respiratory disease is bronchial asthma.