Division of Sleep Disorders, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
N Engl J Med. 2012 Jul 19;367(3):244-7. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1203983.
A 33-year-old woman underwent a right-sided pneumonectomy in 1995 for treatment of a lung adenocarcinoma. As expected, there was an abrupt decrease in her vital capacity, but unexpectedly, it increased during the subsequent 15 years. Serial computed tomographic (CT) scans showed progressive enlargement of the remaining left lung and an increase in tissue density. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with the use of hyperpolarized helium-3 gas showed overall acinar-airway dimensions that were consistent with an increase in the alveolar number rather than the enlargement of existing alveoli, but the alveoli in the growing lung were shallower than in normal lungs. This study provides evidence that new lung growth can occur in an adult human.
一位 33 岁的女性于 1995 年因肺腺癌接受了右侧肺切除术。不出所料，她的肺活量急剧下降，但出乎意料的是，在随后的 15 年中，肺活量逐渐增加。连续的计算机断层扫描（CT）显示，左肺剩余部分逐渐增大，组织密度增加。使用超极化氦-3 气体的磁共振成像（MRI）显示，整体腺泡-气道尺寸与肺泡数量的增加一致，而不是现有肺泡的增大，但生长中的肺的肺泡比正常肺的肺泡浅。这项研究提供了证据表明，成人的肺部可以实现新的生长。
