eMedicine Specialties > Radiology > Chest

Pneumothorax: Follow-up

Author: Fahad M Alhameed, MD, AmBIM, FCCP, FRCPC, Deputy Chairman of Intensive Care Department, Consultant Critical Care and Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Intensive Care and Pulmonary Medicine, King Khalid National Guard Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Coauthor(s): Sat Sharma, MD, FRCPC, Professor and Head, Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Manitoba; Site Director, Respiratory Medicine, St. Boniface General Hospital; Bruce Maycher, MD, Director of Pulmonary Radiology, St Boniface General Hospital; Associate Professor, Department of Radiology, University of Manitoba
Contributor Information and Disclosures

Updated: Dec 11, 2008

Intervention

Medicolegal Pitfalls

  • Diagnosis, causation, and degree of impairment are important considerations in pneumothorax.
  • Failure to differentiate the pleural line of a pneumothorax from that of a skin fold, clothing, tubing, or chest wall artifact may result in an unnecessary interventional procedure.
  • Failure to recognize a vascular bulla or thin-walled cyst may result in a misdiagnosis of pneumothorax.
  • Failure to act promptly may result in hemodynamic instability, which is indicated by tachycardia, hypotension, and cyanosis (suggestive of tension pneumothorax); it may result in higher morbidity and mortality.
 


More on Pneumothorax

Overview: Pneumothorax
Imaging: Pneumothorax
Follow-up: Pneumothorax
Multimedia: Pneumothorax
References
Further Reading
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References

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  4. Melton U, Hepper NGG, Offord KP. Incidence of spontaneous pneumothorax in Olmsted County, Minnesota: 1950 to 1974. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1979;120:1379.

  5. Bense L, Eklund G, Wiman LG. Smoking and the increased risk of contracting spontaneous pneumothorax. Chest. Dec 1987;92(6):1009-12. [Medline].

  6. Mitlehner W, Friedrich M, Dissmann W. Value of computer tomography in the detection of bullae and blebs in patients with primary spontaneous pneumothorax. Respiration. 1992;59(4):221-7. [Medline].

  7. Lesur O, Delorme N, Fromaget JM, et al. Computed tomography in the etiologic assessment of idiopathic spontaneous pneumothorax. Chest. Aug 1990;98(2):341-7. [Medline].

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  9. Lindskog GE, Halasz NA. Spontaneous pneumothorax: A consideration of pathogenesis and management with review of seventy-two hospitalized cases. Arch Surg. 1957;75:693.

  10. Slater A, Goodwin M, Anderson KE, Gleeson FV. COPD can mimic the appearance of pneumothorax on thoracic ultrasound. Chest. Mar 2006;129(3):545-50. [Medline].

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  15. Okuma T, Matsuoka T, Yamamoto A, Oyama Y, Nakamura K, Inoue Y. Computed tomography-guided re-radiofrequency ablation for unresectable lung tumor with local progression previously treated with the same procedure. Radiat Med. Nov 2008;26(9):519-25. [Medline].

  16. Park BK, Kim CK. Prognostic factors influencing the development of an iatrogenic pneumothorax for computed tomography-guided radiofrequency ablation of upper renal tumor. Acta Radiol. Dec 2008;49(10):1200-6. [Medline].

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  19. Casaccia M, Andorno E, Nardi I, Troilo B, Barabino G, Santori G, et al. Laparoscopic US-Guided Radiofrequency Ablation of Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Liver Cirrhosis: Feasibility and Clinical Outcome. J Laparoendosc Adv Surg Tech A. Oct 15 2008;[Medline].

  20. Kothary N, Heit JJ, Louie JD, Kuo WT, Loo BW Jr, Koong A, et al. Safety and Efficacy of Percutaneous Fiducial Marker Implantation for Image-guided Radiation Therapy. J Vasc Interv Radiol. Nov 17 2008;[Medline].

  21. Warner BW, Bailey WW, Shipley RT. Value of computed tomography of the lung in the management of primary spontaneous pneumothorax. Am J Surg. Jul 1991;162(1):39-42. [Medline].

  22. Barnes TW, Morgenthaler TI, Olson EJ, Hesley GK, Decker PA, Ryu JH. Sonographically guided thoracentesis and rate of pneumothorax. J Clin Ultrasound. Dec 2005;33(9):442-6. [Medline].

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  24. Reissig A, Kroegel C. Accuracy of transthoracic sonography in excluding post-interventional pneumothorax and hydropneumothorax. Comparison to chest radiography. Eur J Radiol. Mar 2005;53(3):463-70. [Medline].

  25. Bense L, Lewander R, Eklund G, et al. Nonsmoking, non-alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency-induced emphysema in nonsmokers with healed spontaneous pneumothorax, identified by computed tomography of the lungs. Chest. Feb 1993;103(2):433-8. [Medline].

  26. Wait MA, Estrera A. Changing clinical spectrum of spontaneous pneumothorax. Am J Surg. Nov 1992;164(5):528-31. [Medline].

  27. Carter EJ, Ettensohn DB. Catamenial pneumothorax. Chest. Sep 1990;98(3):713-6. [Medline].

  28. Sadikot RT, Greene T, Meadows K, Arnold AG. Recurrence of primary spontaneous pneumothorax. Thorax. Sep 1997;52(9):805-9. [Medline].

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Keywords

pneumothorax, spontaneous pneumothorax, primary spontaneous pneumothorax, secondary spontaneous pneumothorax, traumatic pneumothorax, iatrogenic pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum, catamenial pneumothorax, pneumothorax in AIDS

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Contributor Information and Disclosures

Author

Fahad M Alhameed, MD, AmBIM, FCCP, FRCPC, Deputy Chairman of Intensive Care Department, Consultant Critical Care and Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Intensive Care and Pulmonary Medicine, King Khalid National Guard Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Fahad M Alhameed, MD, AmBIM, FCCP, FRCPC is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Chest Physicians, American Thoracic Society, Canadian Medical Association, and Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Coauthor(s)

Sat Sharma, MD, FRCPC, Professor and Head, Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Manitoba; Site Director, Respiratory Medicine, St. Boniface General Hospital
Sat Sharma, MD, FRCPC is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Sleep Medicine, American College of Chest Physicians, American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine, American Thoracic Society, Canadian Medical Association, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Royal Society of Medicine, Society of Critical Care Medicine, and World Medical Association
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Bruce Maycher, MD, Director of Pulmonary Radiology, St Boniface General Hospital; Associate Professor, Department of Radiology, University of Manitoba
Bruce Maycher, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Roentgen Ray Society, Canadian Medical Association, Radiological Society of North America, and Society of Thoracic Radiology
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Medical Editor

Satinder P Singh, MD, Associate Professor of Radiology, Chief of Cardiopulmonary Radiology, Director of Cardiac CT, Director of Combined Cardiopulmonary and Abdominal Radiology, Department of Radiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Pharmacy Editor

Bernard D Coombs, MB, ChB, PhD, Consulting Staff, Department of Specialist Rehabilitation Services, Hutt Valley District Health Board, New Zealand
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Managing Editor

W Richard Webb, MD, Chief of Thoracic Imaging, Professor, Department of Radiology, University of California at San Francisco
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

CME Editor

Robert M Krasny, MD, Consulting Staff, Department of Radiology, The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute
Robert M Krasny, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Roentgen Ray Society and Radiological Society of North America
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

Eugene C Lin, MD, Consulting Radiologist, Virginia Mason Medical Center; Clinical Assistant Professor of Radiology, University of Washington School of Medicine
Eugene C Lin, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Nuclear Medicine, American College of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America, and Society of Nuclear Medicine
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

 
 
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