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Published on: September 2, 2011
[Neurofibromatosis as a cause of breathlessness]
A Palot1, C Ferrandez1, K Alagha1
1Clinique des bronches, allergies et du sommeil, Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Marseille, 13015 Marseille, France; Inserm U1067, CNRS UMR 7333, Aix-Marseille université, 13015 Marseille, France.
Introduction:
Type 1 neurofibromatosis, also called "Recklinghausen's disease" is among the most frequent autosomal dominant genetic disorders, with an incidence of 1:3500 births. It mainly affects the skin and peripheral nervous system. However, in its less frequent manifestations, are tumors such as meningocele and skeletal dysplasias leading to severe clinical presentation.
Case Report:
We report the case of a 55-year-old patient with type 1 neurofibromatosis and dyspnea due to a large left thoracic meningocele combined with a significant kyphoscoliosis, causing a severe restrictive ventilatory defect, complicated by chronic respiratory failure and pulmonary hypertension. Symptomatic treatment with non-invasive ventilation permitted an improvement of the clinical situation.
Conclusions:
Our observation shows the complexity of the therapeutic support of the neurofibromatosis of type 1. The contribution of non-invasive ventilation was illustrated by the arterial blood gas and clinical improvements as well as improved quality of life, with an acceptable level of inconvenience to the patient.
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