Spontaneous pneumothorax in a patient with Duchenne muscular dystrophy: an unforeseen mortality

Mehmet Sırmalı,

Mehmet Sırmalı¹, Levent Özçakar², Hasan Türüt¹, Sadi Kaya¹

¹Atatürk Göğüs Hastalıkları ve Göğüs Cerrahisi Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Göğüs Cerrahisi Kliniği, Ankara
²Hacettepe Üniversitesi, Fiziksel Tıp ve Rehabilitasyon Anabilim Dalı, Ankara

A 26-year-old male patient with Duchenne muscular dystrophy presented with acute onset of severe dyspnea and back pain. The patient was diagnosed as left pneumothorax in another medical center. Chest X-ray demonstrated total pneumothorax on the left side with a mediastinal shift towards the right side. Tube thoracostomy did not provide pulmonary expansion in the left lung. Rigid bronchoscopy was not performed because of the general medical condition of the patient. Twelve hours later respiratory insufficiency developed and the patient was transferred to the intensive care unit due to the deteriorated arterial blood gas measurements. Despite mechanical ventilation, no improvement on the arterial blood gas levels was achieved and the patient died.

Keywords : Muscular dystrophies/complications; pneumothorax/ etiology

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