Cohn J R, Steiner R M, Posuniak E, Northrup B E
Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 1987 May;68(5 Pt 1):315-7.
A quadriplegic patient with obstructive emphysema caused by mucus in the bronchi of the hyperinflated lung, demonstrated by chest radiograph and corrected by bronchoscopic aspiration of secretions from the hyperexpanded side, is reported. Subsequently, this phenomenon recurred in the opposite lung. This case is of particular interest, as it is the only documented report of obstructive emphysema due to mucus plugging in an adult with grossly normal airways. This case contrasts markedly with the usual picture of atelectasis and lobar or segmental collapse observed with large airway obstruction by mucus in this setting.
