Anaesthetic management of a 6-week-old child with unilateral pulmonary interstitial emphysema.

We report the case of a 6-week-old female infant suffering from respiratory distress related to cystic changes affecting the entire left lung. Anaesthesia was induced with sevoflurane in oxygen and spontaneous ventilation was maintained until intubation of the right main bronchus was secured. A left pneumonectomy was performed and the postoperative course was uneventful. The pathological diagnosis was pulmonary interstitial emphysema. This has not been previously reported in an otherwise normal child delivered uneventfully at term. The anaesthetic management of a child with a cystic lung lesion is discussed.