TY - JOUR T1 - Spontaneous pneumomediastinum in healthy adolescents. A real issue of the lung? JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J DO - 10.1183/13993003.congress-2019.PA1038 VL - 54 IS - suppl 63 SP - PA1038 AU - Dimitris Lioumpas AU - Kalliopi Athanassiadi AU - Nikolitsa Kalatzi AU - Christina Balakera AU - Georgios Benakis AU - Ilias Samiotis AU - Ioannis Stamatatos AU - Giorgios Boulogeorgos AU - Kostantinos Boumpoulis AU - Periklis Tomos Y1 - 2019/09/28 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/54/suppl_63/PA1038.abstract N2 - Background: Spontaneous pneumomediastinum (SPM) is a rare, self-limited entity, primarily affecting young patients. The aim of the study was to present our experience in treating SPM in healthy adolescents and identify predictors leading to prolonged hospital stay for these patients.Methods: We completed a retrospective review of 39 adolescents treated at our hospital for SPM between 1998-2018. Their medical records were reviewed for symptoms, length of hospital stay and complications. Patients with any type of underlying lung disease, trauma or previous pleural interventions were excluded from the study.Results: The majority of cases were males (80%), with an average age of 15±4 years. Notably, 21% of the patients had a prior history of asthma, 23% were smokers while 2 (5%) admitted to the use of illicit drugs. Chest pain was the main symptom described in 31 cases (80%), followed by subcutaneous emphysema (38%) and persistent cough (20%). All patients received CT scan, while radiography was diagnostic in 32 of our cases. Conservative treatment consisted of high-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy and analgesics led to rapid resolution of SPM. There were no significant complications, although the presence of one pneumothorax treated with a chest tube and medium-grade fever in 5 cases should be mentioned. Patients with asthma history tend to had longer hospital stay (mean 9 ± 3), while the only case of early recurrence responded well to conservative treatment.Conclusions: SPM should be considered in the differential diagnosis of acute chest pain in adolescents. Asthma patients may necessitate prolonged hospital stay and require careful surveillance, eliminating complications that may influence outcome.FootnotesCite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2019; 54: Suppl. 63, PA1038.This is an ERS International Congress abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only). ER -