POST-PNEUMONECTOMY SYNDROME IN ADULT PRESENTING WITH RECURRENT SYNCOPE

Abstract

Post-pneumonectomy syndrome is a rare, late complication of pneumonectomy, caused by a mediastinal shift, rotation and deviation of the remaining lung into the contralateral hemithorax, most commonly resulting in symptomatic central airway compression. Case report: Recurrent syncope following a left pneumonectomy was described in a 63 year-old man, forty years after the initial treatment. Four years physician visit including the family doctor, a neurologist, neurosurgeon, physiatrist, radiologist, psychiatrist and finally a cardiologist made the diagnosis hard to establish and the treatment delayed. The post-pneumonectomy syndrome is a complex constellation of symptoms, following previous lung pneumonectomy, with various presentations mimicking different pathologies. Its diagnosis is often misleading, making the treatment and prognosis hard to predict.