Reyes HD, García RC

Language: Spanish
References: 0
Page: 289-295
PDF size: 347.28 Kb.

ABSTRACT

Spontaneous pneumomediastinum is characterized by the presence of air in the mediastinum. It is a generally benign and self-limiting disease, not associated with known direct cause. It is of infrequent occurrence. It presents mainly with chest pain, dyspnea and subcutaneous emphysema. The diagnosis is made based on the clinical picture and chest X-ray or computed tomography. It is presented a male patient of 17 years old, a high performance athlete, who started suddenly with chest pain, dyspnea and subcutaneous emphysema. A chest x-ray was performed and the presence of air in the mediastinum was observed, confirming the diagnosis of pneumomediastinum by means of computerized tomography of the thorax. He received conservative treatment with obvious improvement. Although the literature reports that recurrence is not common, there was a recurrence of the pneumomediastinum three months after the first event. This case is presented because of the infrequence of this condition and its recurrence.