Lymphangioleiomyomatosis Follow-up
- Author: Joel Moss, MD, PhD; Chief Editor: Zab Mosenifar, MD more...
Complications
Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) complications include the following:
- Pneumothorax
- Hemoptysis
- Chylothorax
- Ascites
- Chyloptysis
- Chyluria
- Pericardial effusion
- Pneumoperitoneum
- Acute abdomen
- Lymphedema
- Respiratory failure
Prognosis
- As many as 78% of patients are alive at 8.5 years after the disease onset. Poor prognostic factors are as follows[7] :
- Reduced forced expiratory volume in 1 second and/or diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide
- Increased TLC
- Histologically, a poor LAM histology score, which quantifies the involvement of the lung with both LAM cells and cysts
Patient Education
- Inform patients about their disease because education is an important issue in this condition. An excellent resource is the LAM Foundation.
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