CASE REPORTS   

Minerva Pneumologica 2007 March;46(1):43-5

Copyright © 2007 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Recurrent spontaneous pneumomediastinum. A case report and literature review

Arif S. ¹, Shah S. ², Singhal R. ³, Gupta V. ⁴

¹ Intensive Care Unit, City Hospital Birmingham, UK 2 Respiratory Medicine Unit, City Hospital Birmingham, UK 3 General Surgery Unit, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust Coventry, UK 4 Emergency Medicine Unit, City Hospital Birmingham, UK

Spontaneous pneumomediastinum with subcutaneous emphysema, without any causative or associative factors is rare. The majority of cases tend to be young, previously healthy men, aged 15–30 years. We present the case of a 21 year old man who presented to the emergency department with recurrent pneumomediastinum. Failure to find a definite cause for his symptoms, led to a diagnosis of spontaneous/ idiopathic pneumomediastinum. Pnemome-diastinum is rare and still rarer is a spontaneous recurrent pneumomediastinum. Due to the scarcity of this condition, it is recommended that alternative causes/associated factors are investigated, before a definitive diagnosis of spontaneous pneumomediastinum is made.