Editor – We thank Fijen et al. for their very helpful description of pulmonary barotrauma (PBT) and its potential contribution to pulmonary injury and hemoptysis in our case patient. We agree that PBT should be viewed as a plausible mechanistic explanation of our patient’s clinical presentation. We also agree that it is quite possible that overexpansion injury during ascent due to a localized obstructive airway defect in the previously irradiated lung may represent a pathophysiologic factor in the development of lung injury in our patient. However, we do not have data from diagnostic testing to demonstrate the presence of localized air trapping within the previously irradiated lung. Thank you for sharing your interesting observations and insights.
- Received May 16, 2103.
- Accepted May 23, 2013.
