Pulmonary & Respiratory Medicine

A Case of Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis Undergoing Whole Lung Lavage in Combination with Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation

Abstract

Aybuke Kekecoglu, Cengiz Ozdemir, Levent Karasulu, Orcun Unal, Zeynep Nilgun Ulukol, Dilek Bakan N, Fadime Kelesoglu, Burcu Arpinar Yigitbas and Filiz Kosar A

Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) is a rare disease whose etiology is not completely known and is characterized by deposition of surfactant proteins and phospholipid-rich acid Schiff (PAS) (+) material in alveoli and bronchioles [1]. One third of the patients die because of progressive hypoxemia and secondary infections while a small proportion does not respond to treatment and subsequently fibrosis develops. In this report, a case of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis admitted to intensive care unit due to progressive hypoxemia and treated with bilateral TLL along with veno-arterial (v-a) extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is presented.