Pneumonectomy in an elderly Swyer-James-MacLeod syndrome patient with a giant bulla.

Swyer-James-MacLeod syndrome is a rare lung disease that appears as unilateral pulmonary hyperlucency on chest radiographs and is considered to occur as a result of childhood bronchiolitis obliterans. We report the case of a 54-year-old woman who experienced exertional dyspnea owing to Swyer-James-MacLeod syndrome associated with a giant calcified bulla that occupied the entire hemithorax. Right pneumonectomy was performed because of progressive pulmonary dysfunction caused by the compression of the bulla on the left lung. This treatment dramatically improved both her pulmonary function and symptoms. Swyer-James-MacLeod syndrome is a rare disease characterized by unilateral pulmonary hyperlucency on chest radiography. In this case, Swyer-James-MacLeod syndrome associated with a giant calcified bulla that compressed the patient's left lung was treated with right pneumonectomy. (C) 2020 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons