Glued lungs: Sticky and tricky

Abstract

We report a male patient who underwent bronchoscopic instillation of glue to control moderate hemoptysis which later led to the development of postobstructive pneumonia and extensive foreign body reaction in the bronchial wall and the lung distal to the glue application. He continued to have intermittent hemoptysis and underwent bronchial artery embolization. However, recurrent moderate hemoptysis eventually led to pneumonectomy, which showed severe foreign body reaction in bronchi- and post-obstructive changes in the lung parenchyma and the draining lymph nodes. This case highlights a serious complication of intrabronchial cyanoacrylate gluing to control bleeding in hemoptysis, which might warrant its very cautious use in moderate hemoptysis although surgical modality is considered the definitive treatment in life-threatening hemoptysis.

Keywords

• Complication of cyanoacrylate glue
• foreign body reaction to glue
• intrabronchial glue
• massive hemoptysis