Abstract
Spontaneous pneumothorax is defined by the presence of air in the pleural cavity without history of trauma. This is a significant clinical problem. COPD is a common cause of pneumothorax. The risk of recurrence of spontaneous pneumothorax secondary to COPD is high and various studies quote rates 20-60%.
Methods: retrospective cohort study of all patients COPD admitted with pneumothorax to the pulmonary department between January 2004 and September 2011.
The aim: to assess the frequency of pneumothorax in the COPD and describe its clinical profile and scalable.
Results: in a study period of 6 years, 248 cases with a diagnosis of pneumothorax were reviewed, the rate of pneumothorax secondary to COPD was 67 % (80 patients COPD developed 167 pneumothorax).Our series is composed mainly of men, mean age 59± 8 years. The notion of smoking was found in 100%; ex-smokers 67% and active smokers 33%.The most frequent initial symptom was dyspnea 100% with pleuritic chest pain 42%.The episode of pneumothorax revelated the disease COPD in 32% and was responsible of exacerbation of COPD in 68%.According to GOLD classification, Fifty five (68%) had moderate COPD and twenty five (31%) had severe COPD. All patients received tube chest drainage and hospital stay mean was 12 days range (6-23 days).Twenty eight (35%) had recurrence of pneumothorax. Forty two patients (52%) had emphysema. Four patients developed empyema, six had emphysema subcutaneous and two had pneumonia after chest tube.The evolution was favorable in 74 cases and 6 patients died in an array of acute respiratory failure
Conclusion: pneumothorax represents a factor of mortality for patients suffering of COPD and the surgical treatment is needed to prevent recurrence.
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