From NEJM: Evidence for adult lung growth in human beings

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22808959

N Engl J Med. 2012 Jul 19;367(3):244-7.

Evidence for adult lung growth in humans.

Butler JP, Loring SH, Patz S, Tsuda A, Yablonskiy DA, Mentzer SJ.

Source

Division of Sleep Disorders, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.

Abstract

A 33-year-old woman underwent a right-sided pneumonectomy in 1995 for treatment of a lung adenocarcinoma. As expected, there was an abrupt decrease in her vital capacity, but unexpectedly, it increased during the subsequent 15 years. Serial computed tomographic (CT) scans showed progressive enlargement of the remaining left lung and an increase in tissue density. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with the use of hyperpolarized helium-3 gas showed overall acinar-airway dimensions that were consistent with an increase in the alveolar number rather than the enlargement of existing alveoli, but the alveoli in the growing lung were shallower than in normal lungs. This study provides evidence that new lung growth can occur in an adult human.