Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Pulmonary lobectomy in the management of pneumonia in five cats.
- Journal:
- The Journal of small animal practice
- Year:
- 1997
- Authors:
- Murphy, S T et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences · United States
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
In this study, five cats with pneumonia had surgery to remove part of their lungs. Before the surgery, they had been treated for about eight months, and two of the cats had other health issues that could weaken their immune system. Some cats had pneumonia that affected a specific area of the lung, while others had it spread throughout the lungs. After surgery, there were no serious complications, and none of the cats had a return of their pneumonia during an average follow-up of nearly 38 months. The surgery seemed to help by removing the source of infection in some cases, and it also helped doctors understand the cause of the pneumonia in others. Overall, the treatment was successful.
Abstract
Five cats underwent lobectomy for the management of pneumonia. The mean presurgical duration of treatment was eight months. A potentially immunosuppressive disease process was present preoperatively in two of the five cats. Preoperatively, two of the cats had radiographically diffuse pneumonia, while three had focal pneumonia. A single pulmonary lobe was removed in four cats, with one cat having two pulmonary lobes removed. There were no life-threatening complications and no clinical recurrence noted during a mean follow-up period of 37.8 months. The benefit of pulmonary lobectomy in focal pneumonia may lie in removing the nidus of infection. In diffuse, chronic or medically refractory pneumonia, obtaining an aetiological diagnosis may be the main benefit of lobectomy. Selective lobectomy for the treatment of pneumonia may be beneficial but a thorough preoperative evaluation is warranted.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9127284/