Clinical Reviews of Spontaneous Hemopneumothorax

Kim, Jung Tae; Chang, Woon Ha

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Spontaneous hemopneumothorax is a rare disease and can be life threatening; it occurs in 1~12% of patients with spontaneous pneumothorax. We analyzed clinical reviews and treatments, as well as complications of spontaneous hemopneumothorax patients that were treated to aid in the optimal management. MATERIAL AND METHOD: We studied retrospectively 30 cases with spontaneous hemopneumothorax for 11 years, from 1995 to 2006, at our hospital. RESULT: All the patients were male and most of the patients were under 30 years. The sides with the disorder were as follows: right in 15 cases and left in 15 cases. Patients showed mostly initial symptoms of chest pain, dyspnea and hypovolemic shock. All patients underwent a closed thoracostomy and 27 patients underwent surgery. Chemical pleurodesis was performed because of postoperative persistent air leakage and one case was treated in the ICU due to re-expansion pulmonary edema. There were no other complications such as fibrothorax seen during the follow-up periods.
CONCLUSION
The most important finding is proper initial management, as the spontaneous hemopneumothorax can potentially lead to a life-threatening condition. Recently, video assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is common procedure for general thoracic surgery and overcomes the weak points of performing a thoracotomy. The results of VATS are encouraging.