Selective bronchial occlusion for treatment of bullous interstitial emphysema and bronchopleural fistula.

A preterm infant, ventilated for hyaline membrane disease, had severe right-sided pulmonary interstitial emphysema, left-sided compression atelectasis, and bronchopleural fistula. Several modalities of treatment were tried and were unsuccessful. Selective bronchial occlusion with a balloon catheter resulted in dramatic improvement in the patient's clinical and radiographic condition.