Chest
Clinical InvestigationsSpontaneous Pneumomediastinum: A Report of 25 Cases
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
To determine the incidence of hospital admissions with SPM, we performed a computerized retrospective study of discharge diagnoses in 460,544 patients hospitalized at Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem between June 1, 1978 and May 31, 1989. Fourteen patients with SPM were identified.
Clinical data on SPM were obtained from 25 patients: 14 admitted to Hadassah University Hospital; and 11 patients admitted to other medical institutions, but followed in Hadassah's outpatient clinic. Data
Results
The incidence of SPM at Hadassah University Hospital was 1:32,896 hospital admissions. In young patients (5 to 34 years), the incidence was 1:24,945.
The mean age of the 25 patients with SPM was 18.8 ±5.2 years (± SD), with a range of 8 to 31 years. There were 21 male and 4 female patients. Body build and smoking habits were not significantly different from the general population (data not shown).
The patients' complaints on admission are summarized in the following tabulation, showing numbers of
Discussion
The present study confirms that SPM is a relatively uncommon disorder which occurs primarily in young adults. It is usually a self-limited benign condition, which may recur.
Spontaneous pneumomediastinum was first reported in 1939 by Hamman.8 It results from the rupture of marginal pulmonary alveoli, allowing bubbles of air to dissect along the vascular sheaths and connective tissue planes to the mediastinum.9 In our study, 36 percent (nine) of the episodes of SPM were preceded by cough, and 24
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Manuscript received July 23; revision accepted November 30.