Lady Windermere syndrome refers to a pattern of pulmonary Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) infection seen typically in elderly white women who chronically suppress the normal cough reflex. A fastidious nature and a reticence to expectorate are believed to predispose such persons to infections with MAC.

Typical manifestation is of bronchiectasis, centrilobular nodules and eventual scarring and volume loss affecting the middle lobe and lingula 1.

It is one of the causes of right middle lobe syndrome.

History and etymology

The syndrome is named after Lady Windermere, a character in Oscar Wilde's 1892 play Lady Windermere's fan 2.