Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2001, 193 (1)

Case Report

Marked Improvement of Neuropsychological Impairment in a Patient with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease after Lung Volume Reduction Surgery

MIHOKO WATANABE, MASAHIRO KOHZUKI, KENICHI MEGURO,¹ YOKO GOTO and TOKUTARO SATO²

Department of Internal Medicine and Rehabilitation Science, and
¹Department of Neuropsychology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai 980-8574, and
²National Rehabilitation Center for the Disabled, Tokorozawa 359-8555

This paper reports a case of a 71-year-old pulmonary emphysema patient with neuropsychological impairments that were markedly improved 6 months after he underwent lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS). He also underwent pulmonary rehabilitation before and after surgery. He was suspected of having memory impairment and attention disorder when he was referred for rehabilitation. The neuropsychologic test showed a general cognitive impairment, attention disorder, and verbal memory impairment. Magnetic resonance imaging showed moderate atrophy of the left hippocampal area, cortex, and lacunae infarction in the periventricular area. Interestingly, scores of the neuropsychologic test, as well as severity of dyspnea and lung function, remarkably improved 6 months after LVRS. These results suggested that the neuropsychological impairments in pulmonary emphysema patients can be improved after lung reduction surgery.

Keywords —— pulmonary rehabilitation; pulmonary emphysema; lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS); hypoxemia; neuropsychological impairment

© 2001 Tohoku University Medical Press

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Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2001, 193, 67-72

Address for reprints: Prof. Masahiro Kohzuki, M.D., Ph. D., Department of Internal Medicine and Rehabilitation Science, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai 980-8575, Japan.

e-mail: kohzuki@mail.cc.tohoku.ac.jp