II. Definitions
- Pulmonary Bleb
- Small (<1-2 cm), thin walled (<1 mm) air containing spaces within the lung
- Pulmonary Bullae
- Larger (>1-2 cm) air containing spaces within the lung
- A Pulmonary Bulla may be a coalescence of Pulmonary Blebs
III. Pathophysiology
- Blebs and Bullae form as a result of subpleural alveolar rupture
IV. Risk Factors
- Tobacco Abuse
- Thin Patient
- COPD
V. Differential Diagnosis
- Pneumatocele (post-Pneumonia)
- Pneumothorax
- Cystic Bronchiectasis
- Cavitary Lung Disease
-
Cystic Lung Disease
- Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM)
- Pulmonary Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (PLCH)
- Birt-Hogg-Dube Syndrome (BHD)
- Lymphoid Interstitial Pneumonia (LIP)
VI. Complications
- Pneumothorax
- Bullae secondary infection
- Giant Bullous Emphysema (Vanishing Lung Syndrome)
- Large bullae, in some cases filling the entire hemithorax
- May impair lung function
VII. Resources
- Lung Bleb (Radiopaedia)
Images: Related links to external sites (from Bing)
Related Studies
| Concepts | Disease or Syndrome (T047) |
| SnomedCT | 162975005, 278976004 |
| Italian | Bolla del polmone |
| Japanese | 肺胞内嚢胞, ﾊｲﾎｳﾅｲﾉｳﾎｳ |
| English | Bullae, lung bleb, bulla lungs, bullae lung, bleb lungs, blebs lungs, lung blebs, blebs lung, lung bulla, bulla of lung, bullae lungs, lung bullae, pulmonary bulla, bleb lung, bulla lung, Pulmonary bulla, Emphysematous bulla of lung, Bulla of lung, Bulla of lung (finding), bulla; lung, lung; bulla |
| Czech | Plicní bula |
| Hungarian | Tüdő bulla |
| Dutch | bulla; long, long; bulla, longblaas |
| Spanish | bulla pulmonar (hallazgo), bulla pulmonar, Bulla pulmonar |
| Portuguese | Bolha pulmonar |
| French | Bulle pulmonaire |
| German | Pulmonalblase |
