Question:

Before a recent surgery for acute appendicitis, a CT showed that “the lung bases demonstrate bibasilar dependent atelectasis.” Is this a reason for concern? Should my physician be treating me for this?

Answer:

Atelectasis means that the lung does not fully expand. There can be many reasons for this, some serious and some not so serious. A frequent cause for atelectasis is not taking deep breaths, often due to pain in the chest or abdomen (such as can happen with appendicitis). If a chest x-ray is normal after the abdominal pain resolves, no additional evaluation is generally required.

For more information:

Go to the Lung diseases health topic.