An 82-year-old man had progressive oedema and dyspnoea. His past medical history was notable for sick sinus syndrome, for which he had received a pacemaker 3 years earlier. A chest radiograph showed pulmonary oedema with a normal cardiac silhouette (not shown). Massive pleural effusions developed, as shown on repeat chest radiograph 2 months later (Figure 1). He had marked ascites and swelling ...

Prolonged air leak is one of the most common post-operative complications encountered after thoracic surgical operations involving mobilization or resection of lung parenchyma. Air leak typically manifests as persistent bubbling in a chest tube drainage system, but may also present with increasing subcutaneous emphysema or pneumothorax in a post-operative patient. No universal consensus exist a...

PURPOSE The clinical features of pneumomediastinum are clarified. METHODS Eight patients with pneumomediastinum, caused by other than trauma or operative, diagnostic, or therapeutic trouble (medical pneumomediastinum), were studied retrospectively. RESULTS There were seven men and one woman with an average age of 17.5 years. The incidence was about 1:320 in thoracic surgical inpatients. The...

We describe an interesting case of pneumomediastinum secondary to cocaine abuse. The patient presented with severe chest pain following nasal inhalation of a large quantity of cocaine. Investigations revealed no chest injury; however oesophagitis was proven leading to a possible aetiology of oesophageal microperforation. After conservative management there was spontaneous resolution of the pneu...

We report 2 cases of spontaneous pneumomediastinum (SPM) with clinical presentations similar to pericarditis, including positional chest pain, tachycardia, a precordial rub, and electrocardiographic changes. Chest radiography is the most commonly used imaging modality for diagnosis, but the findings may be subtle. In select patients, a more extensive diagnostic approach is warranted. Spontaneou...

background: preterm labor is at risk for respiratory distress syndrome (rds) and sometimes requires to mechanical ventilation (mv) and surfactant therapy. continuous positive airway pressure (cpap) and nasal continuous positive airway pressure (ncpap) are the methods of respiratory support especially for using in rds of neonates. in other method surfactant is administered to babies via tracheal...

1 of 2 DESCRIPTION Pneumomediastinum (PM) relates to air collection around the mediastinal structures. It is classifi ed into spontaneous PM, without any obvious primary source, and secondary PM, with a specifi c responsible pathologic event, such as trauma, intrathoracic infections or violation of the aerodigestive tract. 1 The prevalence of PM in major trauma centres ranged from 1% to 5.2% of...

We report a case of isolated unilateral absence of the pulmonary artery, a rare congenital anomaly, in a woman with exertional dyspnoea. The chest radiograph appearances of this anomaly are often mistaken for other conditions, such as Swyer-James-MacLeod’s syndrome or thromboembolic disease. The interpretation of chest radiograph findings in order to differentiate isolated unilateral absence of...

External trauma to the larynx is rare with an incidence of 1/30 000. It usually presents in young adult males, after traffic or sports accidents. The presence of pneumomediastinum and/or pneumopericardium is a rare condition which may occur after a laryngeal trauma, secondary to the Valsalva effect in the airways caused by a coughing fit, deep breathing, nausea or vomiting. Minor dehiscence of ...

The respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) continues to be the most common cause of death in premature infants. However, over the last 20 years there has been a series of stepwise advances resulting from laboratory studies and clinical observations which have resulted not only in a better understanding of this disease but in successful therapeutic applications as well. The purpose of this review w...