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Earliest symptom of re-expansion pulmonary oedema

C-20/A, New Krishna Park, New Delhi 110018, India

Does re-expansion pulmonary oedema exist?

Congratulations to the authors for raising and clearing a lot of air surrounding re-expansion pulmonary oedema (REPE) [1]. Re-expansion pulmonary oedema is a distinct entity as is proved in this article. Its incidence is definitely much more common than hitherto believed. If looked for specifically, a subtle change in luscency of radiographs can frequently be picked up in post-drainage skiagram.

In my experience, the longer the duration of pneumothorax or effusion, the greater the chances of REPE. Age of the patient or pre-existing lung pathology have not been found to have linear correlation with REPE.

While draining pneumothorax or effusion, I rely on a sudden bout of cough as the warning bell of impending REPE. At the first cough, I would clamp the chest catheter and wait for a few minutes and then drain further. If the cough persists, chest catheter is left clamped for 30 min to 1 h.

Keeping these things in mind, most of REPE can be avoided or at least its severity reduced.

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1. Echevarria C, Twomey D, Dunning J, Chanda B. Does re-expansion pulmonary oedema exist? Interact CardioVasc Thorac Surg 2008;7:485–490.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Personal Folders Download to citation manager Author home page(s): Satinder K Jain Permission Requests Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Jain, S. K Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Jain, S. K Related Collections Related Article