What is a Pulmonary Bleb You Ask?

Pulmonary blebs are small thin-walled air pockets, not larger than 1-2 cm in diameter. Their walls are less than 1 mm thick, and they look like blisters. If they rupture, they allow air to escape into chest cavity resulting in a "spontanious pneumothorax". This refers to the presence of gas (air) in the chest cavity. When this collection of gas is constantly enlarging, the result is compression or collapse of the lung. Research shows there are some 9000 cases of "spontaneous pneumothorax" in the US each year.

I hope this doesn't gross anybody out. I cept the image small for that reason. This is a picture of a bleb (long arrow) on the left lower lobe in an adolescent's lung. A scar (short arrow) is also visible from a previously ruptured bleb.



Here is a representation of a resulting collapsed lung.



Blebs are a very common finding in otherwise normal individuals. They are often found in young patients. They are more common in thin patients and in smokers. I wonder if Wyatt has been up to something he should be. I doubt it very seriously. I remember when he and Connor we little, and they would point at cigarette butts on the ground and say something like "Look at those drugs on the ground! Stay away from that!"

In the vast majority of cases, blebs remain benign and present no symptoms. However, they occasionally they rupture resulting in a condition like Wyatt's.

Now for some good news;  patients with this condition are able to resume healthy, athletic lives after they heal. In Wyatt's case, the doctors are trying to keep the lung inflated with suction, let nature take its course and simply let the lung heal itself.

If it doesn't heal on its own, surgery may be necessary to close the air leak. In most cases, the surgery can be performed through small incisions, using a tiny fiber-optic camera and narrow, long-handled surgical tools. The surgeon will look for the leaking bleb and close it with one of several methods. In some cases, a substance like talc may be blown in through the tube to irritate the tissues around the lung so that they'll stick together and seal any leaks. Rarely, the surgeon will have to make a larger incision between the ribs to get better access to multiple or larger air leaks. We hope to avoid this route if we can. Recovery wouldn't be fun.

Thank you so much for all your love, prayers, well wishes and visits. Wyatt especially appreciates the visits to break the monotony. We will post more as we make progress toward recovery.