2007 Volume 21 Issue 5 Pages 713-717
A 20-year-old man was admitted due to left spontaneous pneumothorax. We observed the lung by infrared thoracoscopy (IRT) with indocyanine green (ICG) intravenous injection and performed bullectomy via normal thoracoscopy. A bulla and an emphysematous area around the bulla were observed as white, while the normal lung was observed as blue by IRT with ICG intravenous injection. Histologically, the white area was revealed as a bulla and emphysematous lung. IRT with ICG injection was useful to identify the bulla and emphysematous lung that was difficult to identify by normal thoracoscopy. This procedure may reduce the postoperative recurrence rate of pneumothorax.
