Swyer-James-MacLeod syndrome; repeated chest drainages in a patient misdiagnosed with pneumothorax

Unité de Chirurgie Général et Thoracique, Hôpital Nord, Av. Albert Raimond, CHU de St. Etienne, 42055 St. Etienne, France *Corresponding author. Tel.: +(33) 4 77 82 84 74; fax: +(33) 4 77 82 84 62. E-mail address : sulaiman{at}creatis.insa-lyon.fr (A. Sulaiman). Swyer–James–MacLeod Syndrome (SJMS) occurs as a result of childhood bronchiolitis obliterans. Typically, this disorder is diagnosed in childhood after evaluations for recurrent respiratory infections. One of the reasons to explain the difficulty in diagnosis is that when patients develop little bronchiectasis, and therefore, few symptoms, then this syndrome may not be recognized until adulthood. Here, we are presenting a 22-year-old female patient who was diagnosed with SJMS who was initially misdiagnosed with a pneumothorax and treated by multiple chest tube drainages. This case highlights the significance of taking a careful history, the application of computed tomography and scintigraphy in confirming the diagnosis of SJMS and in eliminating other diseases. Key Words: MacLeod syndrome; Bronchiolitis obliterans; Computed tomography Related Articles eComment: Swyer–James–MacLeod syndrome: addendum to the clinicalappearance Thorsten Walles, Thomas Kyriss, A. Sibylle Maier, and Godehard Friedel Interactive CardioVascular and Thoracic Surgery 2009 8: 484. [Full Text] [PDF] eComment: Diagnostic and surgical considerations in Swyer–James–MacLeod syndrome Nikolaos Barbetakis, Dimitrios Paliouras, Christos Asteriou, and Georgios Samanidis Interactive CardioVascular and Thoracic Surgery 2009 8: 484. [Full Text] [PDF]