Spontaneous pneumothorax : a review of 29 admissions into Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia 1984-90

• Published in: Singapore medical journal Vol. 34; no. 2; pp. 150 - 152
• Main Authors: HARUN, M. H, YAACOB, I, MOHD KASSIM, Z
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore Singapore Medical Association 01.04.1993
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Cause of Death; Chest Pain - physiopathology; Child; Child, Preschool; Dyspnea - physiopathology; Female; Hospitals, Teaching; Humans; Incidence; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Lung Diseases - epidemiology; Malaysia - epidemiology; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Pneumology; Pneumothorax - complications; Pneumothorax - epidemiology; Pneumothorax - physiopathology; Pneumothorax - therapy; Recurrence; Respiratory system : syndromes and miscellaneous diseases; Asia; Malaysia; Human; Complication; Pneumothorax; Respiratory disease; Spontaneous; Etiopathogenesis
• ISSN: 0037-5675

Twenty-nine patients (16 males, 13 females) with spontaneous pneumothorax admitted into Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, from September 1984 to September 1990 were reviewed. Their ages ranged from newborn to 75 years. The commonest chief presenting symptom was dyspnoea (69%), followed by chest pain (35%). Four patients had chronic obstructive airway disease, 7 had pneumonia, 2 had pulmonary tuberculosis, one patient had emphysema while 4 patients had multiple underlying lung disorders. The left and right lungs were involved with equal frequency. Bilateral pneumothorax occurred in one patient. Most patients had a single episode of pneumothorax but recurrent pneumothoraces occurred in 3 patients (10%). Six patients were observed conservatively, 20 patients required chest tube insertion alone and 3 patients also required pleurodesis. Death occurred in 8 patients (28%) mainly due to coexisting infection and respiratory failure.