EVALUATION OF A CASE OF RECURRENT RESPIRATORY TRACT INFECTIONS.

EVALUATION OF A CASE OF RECURRENT RESPIRATORY TRACT INFECTIONS Dr.Priyanka Das ,Prof.Dr.Jyoti Pattnaik ,Dr.Nalini Prava Das ,DrGopal Krushna Sahu Department of Pulmonary Medicine,MKCG Medical College,Behrampur,Odisha, India. E-mail :drpriyankadas@yahoo.in Background :Pulmonary Hypoplasia indicates underdevelopment of the lung ,a hypoplastic lung contains normal number of lobes but is diminished in size .When the anamoly is confined to a lung or part of it,prolonged survival is possible but is accompanied by recurrent episodes of lower respiratory tract infections resulting from imperfect drainage of lung secretions from a blind bronchial stump into initially normal lung tissue . Case Report :A 40 year old female,housewife,of thin body build,presented with c/c of dyspnea was progressive in nature with grading of MMRC –II .History of past illness revealed that she had recurrent respiratory tract infections at frequent intervals from her childhood which got subsided with treatment from local doctors.Personal history revealed that she is married with 2 children and has no addictions.On examination she was found to be febrile,had pallor .clubbing grade – I ,PR of 110/min,spO2 of 86%@RA ,BP of 110/60mmHg.Chest examination revealed diminished VBS over left ISA,IAA with creps over the same areas .Chest X-ray PA view showed features of decreased lung volume of left side with shifting of mediastinum to same side ,CECT Thorax showed features of unilateral pulmonary hypoplasia with bronchiectatic changes.The diagnosis was further confirmed with bronchoscopy which revealed the under development of left bronchial tree. CONCLUSION :It is crucial to spread awareness amongst the medical fraternity that whenever a patient presents with dyspnea ,recurrent RTI with unilateral small thorax, Pulmonary Hypoplasia is to be kept in mind as an important cause although it is a rare condition.