Lung reaeration and reventilation after aspiration of pleural effusions: A study using electrical impedance tomography

摘要

I read with interest the observations on changes in lungaeration and ventilation after thoracentesis reported by Alvesand colleagues (1). It is intriguing to note the temporal differencesbetween lung reaeration and reventilation after withdrawal offluid. They have noted that reventilation of the lungs could notbe predicted from changes in lung aeration. They put forwardthree possible explanations: (1) possible reexpansion pulmonaryedema not seen on the post-thoracentesis chest radiographs;(2) expiratory small airway collapse resulting in air entrapmentwithout effective ventilation; and (3) ipsilateral diaphragmdysfunction resulting from prolonged compression by a largeeffusion.