Sublobar resection utilizing near-infrared thoracoscopy with intravenous indocyanine green for intralobar pulmonary sequestration: a case report and literature review

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary sequestration is a rare pulmonary malformation, with intralobar pulmonary sequestration being the most common subtype. Lobectomy has generally been performed for its treatment, owing to unclear boundaries of the lesion. However, recent reports have introduced lung resection using intravenous indocyanine green (ICG) as a treatment for pulmonary sequestrations. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 34-year-old woman presented with chest pain, and enhanced chest computed tomography (CT) displayed a solid mass of 4.5 × 3.1 cm in the right S10 area. An aberrant artery was found running from the celiac artery through the diaphragm to the thoracic cavity. The patient was diagnosed as having pulmonary sequestration Pryce type III, and surgical resection was performed. Intrathoracic findings demonstrated that the precise area of the pulmonary sequestration could not be clearly identified, and a 5-mm aberrant artery was present in the pulmonary ligament. Following the separation of the aberrant artery, intravenous injection of ICG clearly delineated the border between the normal lung tissue and the pulmonary sequestration. Wedge resection was then performed without any postoperative events, and the pathological diagnosis was also pulmonary sequestration. CONCLUSIONS: We herein reported a case of a patient who underwent sublobar resection for intrapulmonary sequestration using intravenous ICG injection, together with a literature review. Our case suggests that a comprehensive understanding of abnormal vessels and pulmonary vasculature in pulmonary resection for intrapulmonary sequestrations, complemented with the use of ICG, might potentially avoid unnecessary pulmonary resection and enable sublobar surgical resection.