
Article in Japanese
Prolonged pneumonia and secondary Aspergillus infection changed the ventilatory impairment from obstructive to restrictive in a patient with pulmonary emphysema
Naoki Tashiro Makoto Tanaka Taishi Harada Hiroshi Ishii Masaki Fujita Kentaro Watanabe
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Fukuoka University Hospital
A 70-year-old male with an 8-year treatment history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease presented marked pulmonary emphysema predominantly in both upper lungs on chest images, concurrently with progressive obstructive ventilatory impairment on spirometry. The patient had received antimicrobial therapy for bacterial pneumonia three months earlier, but was admitted to our hospital because of remaining chest infiltrates. Pulmonary function tests on admission did not reveal obstructive but restrictive ventilatory. The chest images showed contractive changes with fibrosis in both upper lung lobes. A diagnosis of prolonged pneumonia with pulmonary aspergillosis was made, and this may have been responsible for a shift of the obstructive ventilatory impairment to the restrictive one.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Pulmonary emphysema Organizing pneumonia Obstructive ventilatory impairment Restrictive ventilatory impairment
Received 13 May 2013 / Accepted 11 Jul 2013
AJRS, 2(6): 828-831, 2013