Use of porcine acellular dermal matrix to repair lung Hernia after minithoracotomy: A case report with 6-Year follow-up

Lung hernia following minimally invasive cardiac surgery is rare with few reported cases in the literature. Surgical repair is debated, and several methods have been described including a variety of synthetic and biological materials. We report a case of a 36-year-old woman who developed lung hernia and a strong retraction of the pectoralis major muscle after minithoracotomy that was performed for mitral valve surgery. The herniated lung was reduced and the chest wall defect was repaired with a non-cross linked acellular dermal matrix (ADM) anchored to the thoracic wall. At a 6-year follow-up, she was asymptomatic and without recurrence of the hernia. Our experience suggests that ADMs are a safe and reliable surgical technique for lung hernia repair due to their biological and mechanical properties, even in those secondary hernias to minithoracotomy where a complete muscle coverage of the matrix could not be provided.