The changes underwent by free fat pads used for pulmonary air leakage repair.

The use of free fat pads is effective for repairing pulmonary air leakage clinically. It has been reported that the free pericardial fat pad (FPFP) used to repair the lung remained at the transplanted site in many cases according to images. However, no information is available regarding what type of actual changes these free fat pads with no blood supply undergo. We examined changes in an FPFP that was used to repair pulmonary air leakage in a patient who underwent a surgery for lung cancer 1 year ago. Although the FPFP transplanted to the pleural defect remained without deforming morphologically in this patient 1 year after the first surgery, pathological findings suggested fat necrosis surrounded by fibrous tissue. Our findings suggest that while free fat pads used for pulmonary air leakage repair presumably are not engrafted, they should remain on the lung surface in a thoracolithiasis-like condition.