[Congenital bronchial atresia treated with video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery; report of a case]

We report an adult case of congenital lobar emphysema due to bronchial atresia. A 24-year-old man was referred to our department because of cough and fever. A chest roentgenogram on admission showed multiple cystic shadows in the left lower lung field. Chest computed tomography (CT) demonstrated multiple cysts with neveau and scattered infiltration in the left lingual segment and lower lobe. Surgical treatment was scheduled because of no improvement of the chest lesions. The interlobar fissure was not found between the upper and the lower lobes, but between the upper and the lingual divisions. Additionally, the lingual bronchus was not bifurcated from the upper bronchus, but from the lower bronchus. As inflammatory changes were extended to the lingual division and the lower lobe, a left lingual segmentectomy and a lower lobectomy with video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery were performed. His postoperative course was uneventful and he was discharged at the seventh day after surgery.