Case report: inflammatory bronchial flap and 'check valve' bronchial obstruction

The authors report the case of a patient in whom check valve bronchial obstruction was the result of an inflamed bronchial mucosal flap. Bronchoscopic examination showed that the mucosal flap opened with inspiration and closed with expiration. Protective brush and semiquantitative bronchoalveolar lavage cultures grew Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas spp. An inflammatory mucosal flap and check valve bronchiolar obstruction has been described previously in only one patient and this was on postmortem examination.