Chest
Surgically Treated Pneumothorax: Radiologic and Pathologic Findings
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
Chest radiographs were evaluated retrospectively in 116 consecutive patients who underwent surgical treatment for recurrent
or persistent pneumothorax between January 1990 and October 1994. One hundred patients (86%) had an identifiable pneumothorax on the preoperative chest radiograph. The remaining 16 patients had a history of recurrent pneumothorax and were being admitted to the hospital for elective surgery. These 16 patients had two or more radiologically documented episodes of spontaneous
Radiologic Findings
Parenchymal abnormalities were identified on the chest radiograph in 79 of 116 (68%) patients and pleural thickening or pleural masses were identified in five (4%) patients. Exclusively parenchymal abnormalities were present in 77 patients, with pleural abnormalities only in three patients, and mixed parenchymal and pleural abnormalities present in two patients. The most common parenchymal abnormality identified on the chest radiograph was an apical bulla seen in 51 (44%) patients. Other
Discussion
Rupture of small apical bullae or blebs and pulmonary parenchymal abnormalities are found in primary and secondary spontaneous pneumothoraces, respectively. The most common parenchymal abnormality associated with spontaneous pneumothorax has been emphysema. The prevalence of other associated pathologic abnormalities has varied.3, 5, 11
One hundred ten (95%) of the patients who required surgical intervention for persistent or recurrent pneumothoraces in our study had a diagnosis of emphysema or
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Cited by (31)
Clinical-Radiologic-Pathologic Correlation of Smoking-Related Diffuse Parenchymal Lung Disease
2016, Radiologic Clinics of North AmericaCitation Excerpt :These thickened septa often give this subtype of emphysema well-defined walls. In addition, although they can occur in all forms of emphysema, the development of bulla, defined as a focal lucency measuring greater than 1 cm in diameter with a sharply demarcated thin wall less than or equal to 1 mm in diameter, is common in paraseptal emphysema and can lead to spontaneous pneumothorax.34,36 In addition, they can become quite large, leading to severe compression of the remaining lung, further hampering pulmonary function (Fig. 7).
Treatment specifics for spontaneous pneumothorax in flight personnel
2010, Revue de Pneumologie CliniquePathology of the Pleura
2006, Clinics in Chest MedicineTwo cases where bedside ultrasound was able to distinguish pulmonary bleb from pneumothorax
2005, Journal of Emergency MedicineCan CT scanning be used to select patients with unilateral primary spontaneous pneumothorax for bilateral surgery?
2000, ChestCitation Excerpt :Besides the actual protocol used, one must also consider how to evaluate the findings on the CT images produced. It has been proposed that CT detection of very minute emphysematous-like changes in the lung may be irrelevant to the overall management of patients at risk for PSP.1725 Warner et al18 have suggested that quantifying the CT findings using a scoring system based on the size and number of blebs seen may enhance the predictive value of CT scans for PSP occurrence, even though no statistical significance was found.
Spontaneous pneumothorax revealing cystic adenomatoid malformation of the lung in a 13-year-old child
1999, Archives de Pediatrie