Spontaneous pneumothorax caused by mesenchymal cystic hamartoma in a fifteen year-old girl

Abstract

A 15-year-old girl with an antecedent of dorso-lumbar scoliosis recieved a punch during a sport lesson. She had a right chest pain, with a normal clinical examination. Ten days after, she did a systematic chest X Ray showing a complete right pneumothorax. The tolerance was perfect with no breathing difficulty. On the X ray chest radiography and computed tomography, there was a small bulla at the pulmonary base. An exsufflation was performed and then thoracic surgery with pleural abrasion and excision of the bulla. The anatomo pathologic diagnosis was hamartoma mesenchymal cystic which is a rare cause of pneumothorax.

The post operative follows were fine. Five years before, a chest X Ray already showed the bulla.