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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., Volume 157, Number 5, May 1998, 1686-1689

Fatal Air Embolism in an Airplane Passenger with a Giant Intrapulmonary Bronchogenic Cyst

MICHAEL ZAUGG, VLADIMIR KAPLAN, URS WIDMER, PETER CARL BAUMANN, and ERICH WALTER RUSSI

Department of Internal Medicine, Divisions of Intensive Care Medicine and Pulmonary Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

Considering the large number of airplane passengers with a variety of medical conditions, the incidence of in-flight emergencies on commercial airline flights is low. Only few cases of pulmonary barotrauma in airplane passengers with prior lung pathologies have been reported. We present the unusual case of a female airplane passenger with a previously diagnosed asymptomatic giant intrapulmonary bronchogenic cyst who experienced fatal air embolism on a commercial airline flight. We believe that preventive surgical resection is mandatory in asymptomatic patients with large intrapulmonary cysts prior to exposure to even small alterations in ambient pressure as, for instance, prior to airplane flight or use of mountain cable cars. However, screening for pre-existent lung pathologies in the growing mass of commercial airline travelers is not justified.




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Copyright © 1998 American Thoracic Society