Vanishing Lung Syndrome in a Dog: Giant Pneumatocele or Giant Pulmonary Bulla Mimicking Tension Pneumothorax—First Report

A 6-month-old neutered male Belgian Malinois dog living in a kennel was presented to a veterinary emergency service for the management of severe respiratory distress that had developed within the past 24 h. Thoracic radiographs performed by a referring veterinarian showed abnormalities identified as...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jack-Yves Deschamps, Nour Abboud, Pierre Penaud, Françoise A. Roux
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
Series:Veterinary Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2306-7381/12/5/501
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849327224659902464
author Jack-Yves Deschamps
Nour Abboud
Pierre Penaud
Françoise A. Roux
author_facet Jack-Yves Deschamps
Nour Abboud
Pierre Penaud
Françoise A. Roux
author_sort Jack-Yves Deschamps
collection DOAJ
description A 6-month-old neutered male Belgian Malinois dog living in a kennel was presented to a veterinary emergency service for the management of severe respiratory distress that had developed within the past 24 h. Thoracic radiographs performed by a referring veterinarian showed abnormalities identified as a pneumothorax. Upon admission to the emergency service, the striking anomalies turned out to be a large intrathoracic air-filled cavity and countless smaller ones causing mechanical compression of the adjacent pulmonary parenchyma and mimicking tension pneumothorax. Emergency management included thoracocentesis followed by placement of a thoracostomy tube. The dog exhibited rapid clinical improvement and recovered completely within a few days, without requiring surgical intervention. Serial follow-up radiographs showed progressive and complete resolution of all lesions. Based on the complete resolution without resection, the main lesion—initially interpreted as a giant pulmonary bulla—was ultimately considered consistent with an acquired pneumatocele. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report in veterinary medicine of a vanishing lung syndrome presentation in a dog.
format Article
id doaj-art-2bcea2ad20dd453a97bfb15587d6ac1d
institution Kabale University
issn 2306-7381
language English
publishDate 2025-05-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Veterinary Sciences
spelling doaj-art-2bcea2ad20dd453a97bfb15587d6ac1d2025-08-20T03:47:57ZengMDPI AGVeterinary Sciences2306-73812025-05-0112550110.3390/vetsci12050501Vanishing Lung Syndrome in a Dog: Giant Pneumatocele or Giant Pulmonary Bulla Mimicking Tension Pneumothorax—First ReportJack-Yves Deschamps0Nour Abboud1Pierre Penaud2Françoise A. Roux3Emergency and Critical Care Unit, Oniris VetAgro Bio, Nantes-Atlantic College of Veterinary Medicine, Food Science and Engineering, La Chantrerie, CEDEX 03, 44307 Nantes, FranceEmergency and Critical Care Unit, Oniris VetAgro Bio, Nantes-Atlantic College of Veterinary Medicine, Food Science and Engineering, La Chantrerie, CEDEX 03, 44307 Nantes, FranceEmergency and Critical Care Unit, Oniris VetAgro Bio, Nantes-Atlantic College of Veterinary Medicine, Food Science and Engineering, La Chantrerie, CEDEX 03, 44307 Nantes, FranceEmergency and Critical Care Unit, Oniris VetAgro Bio, Nantes-Atlantic College of Veterinary Medicine, Food Science and Engineering, La Chantrerie, CEDEX 03, 44307 Nantes, FranceA 6-month-old neutered male Belgian Malinois dog living in a kennel was presented to a veterinary emergency service for the management of severe respiratory distress that had developed within the past 24 h. Thoracic radiographs performed by a referring veterinarian showed abnormalities identified as a pneumothorax. Upon admission to the emergency service, the striking anomalies turned out to be a large intrathoracic air-filled cavity and countless smaller ones causing mechanical compression of the adjacent pulmonary parenchyma and mimicking tension pneumothorax. Emergency management included thoracocentesis followed by placement of a thoracostomy tube. The dog exhibited rapid clinical improvement and recovered completely within a few days, without requiring surgical intervention. Serial follow-up radiographs showed progressive and complete resolution of all lesions. Based on the complete resolution without resection, the main lesion—initially interpreted as a giant pulmonary bulla—was ultimately considered consistent with an acquired pneumatocele. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report in veterinary medicine of a vanishing lung syndrome presentation in a dog.https://www.mdpi.com/2306-7381/12/5/501pneumatocelepulmonary bullagiant bullavanishing lung syndromespontaneous pneumothoraxdog
spellingShingle Jack-Yves Deschamps
Nour Abboud
Pierre Penaud
Françoise A. Roux
Vanishing Lung Syndrome in a Dog: Giant Pneumatocele or Giant Pulmonary Bulla Mimicking Tension Pneumothorax—First Report
Veterinary Sciences
pneumatocele
pulmonary bulla
giant bulla
vanishing lung syndrome
spontaneous pneumothorax
dog
title Vanishing Lung Syndrome in a Dog: Giant Pneumatocele or Giant Pulmonary Bulla Mimicking Tension Pneumothorax—First Report
title_full Vanishing Lung Syndrome in a Dog: Giant Pneumatocele or Giant Pulmonary Bulla Mimicking Tension Pneumothorax—First Report
title_fullStr Vanishing Lung Syndrome in a Dog: Giant Pneumatocele or Giant Pulmonary Bulla Mimicking Tension Pneumothorax—First Report
title_full_unstemmed Vanishing Lung Syndrome in a Dog: Giant Pneumatocele or Giant Pulmonary Bulla Mimicking Tension Pneumothorax—First Report
title_short Vanishing Lung Syndrome in a Dog: Giant Pneumatocele or Giant Pulmonary Bulla Mimicking Tension Pneumothorax—First Report
title_sort vanishing lung syndrome in a dog giant pneumatocele or giant pulmonary bulla mimicking tension pneumothorax first report
topic pneumatocele
pulmonary bulla
giant bulla
vanishing lung syndrome
spontaneous pneumothorax
dog
url https://www.mdpi.com/2306-7381/12/5/501
work_keys_str_mv AT jackyvesdeschamps vanishinglungsyndromeinadoggiantpneumatoceleorgiantpulmonarybullamimickingtensionpneumothoraxfirstreport
AT nourabboud vanishinglungsyndromeinadoggiantpneumatoceleorgiantpulmonarybullamimickingtensionpneumothoraxfirstreport
AT pierrepenaud vanishinglungsyndromeinadoggiantpneumatoceleorgiantpulmonarybullamimickingtensionpneumothoraxfirstreport
AT francoisearoux vanishinglungsyndromeinadoggiantpneumatoceleorgiantpulmonarybullamimickingtensionpneumothoraxfirstreport