Fig. 3

A Intraoperative findings of the bullae resection. Several collateral arteries from the chest wall were flowing into the lung, making adhesiolysis difficult. B Both the infectious bulla and the giant bulla attached to it were resected. We opened the giant bulla to confirm the boundary with normal lung tissue from inside the bulla and resected the bulla using a stapler via video-assisted thoracic surgery. The dead intrathoracic space in the right thoracic cavity remained after the surgery. The remaining lung gradually expanded without the appearance of new bullous change with the resolution of the dead space (C, D 3 and 6 months later, respectively)