Abstract
Re-expansion pulmonary edema (RPE) is an acute, rare and potentially lethal complication. Its beginning is sudden and dramatic. The mechanism is not yet fully understood. Some authors suggest that it may occur after rapid re-inflation of a collapsed lung. It was reported by other authors that it may relate to surfactant depletion or may result from hypoxic capillary damage, leading to increased capillary permeability. In RPE, unilateral lung injury is initiated by cytotoxic oxygen metabolites and temporally associated with an influx of polymorphonuclear neutrophils. These toxic oxygen products are the results of re-oxygenation of a collapsed lung. Treatment of re-expansion pulmonary edema is basically preventive.