Pneumothorax following inhalation of caustic soda fumes.

new family home. He accidentally leant over the bucket and inhaled the fumes produced by the solution. Five minutes after the inhalation, he developed persistent pleuritic, right-sided chest pain and breathlessness. There was no personal or family history of pulmonary disease, and he had never smoked. Physical abnormalities were confined to the chest. He had a respiratory rate of 30 a minute and signs consistent with a right-sided pneumothorax. Radiology confirmed a 40% pneumothorax with some mediastinal shift (Fig. 1). He was treated with an underwater-seal chest drain. The right lung was fully expanded within 48 h and the drain was removed the following day. He has remained well since his discharge from hospital 3 months ago.