Uniportal video-assisted thoracic total pleural covering for refractory pneumothorax in a patient with lymphangioleiomyomatosis: a case report

Spontaneous pneumothorax is a major and frequently recurrent complication of lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM). Because the pulmonary cysts in LAM are numerous and widely dispersed, it is not possible to remove all of the cysts. We recently reported a total pleural covering (TPC) with oxidized regenerated cellulose (ORC) mesh via 4-port video-assisted thoracic surgery (4P-VATS) that covered the entire visceral pleura. The 4P-VATS TPC successfully prevented pneumothorax recurrence in LAM patients. As a minimally invasive technique, we report a case of secondary pneumothorax in a patient with LAM who was successfully treated by uniportal-VATS TPC with ORC mesh.