Surgery for pulmonary giant bullae

Abstract

Elective bullectomy is rarely performed in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients. Selecting patients who will benefit the most from surgery is a challenging process. We report a case of a patient who underwent elective bullectomy to reduce symptoms and the severity of the exacerbations. One year after surgery he maintains improvement in quality of life despite the underlying emphysema. It is hard to identify only one test to predict which patients will benefit from the surgical treatment, but relief of symptoms in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients should be a priority over pulmonary function.