ISSN : 1301-5680
e-ISSN : 2149-8156
Turkish Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery     
A rare cause of acute respiratory failure: spontaneous pneumomediastinum due to cocaine use
Mehmet Erdem Memetoğlu1, Asım Kalkan2, Nuri Tutar3, Serpil Kurtcan4, Abdülkadir Gündüz2
1Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Gümüşhane State Hospital, Gümüşhane, Turkey
2Department of Emergency Medicine, Karadeniz Technical University, Faculty of Medicine, Trabzon, Turkey
3Department of Chest Diseases, Gümüşhane State Hospital, Gümüşhane, Turkey
4Department of Radiology, Gümüşhane State Hospital, Gümüşhane, Turkey
DOI : 10.5606/tgkdc.dergisi.2013.4385
Spontaneous pneumomediastinum is defined as free air in mediastinum without any underlying pulmonary pathology. Although spontaneous pneumomediastinum is a rarely seen clinical entity, it is one of the most common reasons of sudden pleuritic chest pain in healthy young individuals. Cocaine inhalation is also associated with the development of spontaneous pneumomediastinum. Our case having spontaneous pneumomediastinum was referred to our emergency service with the complaint of acute respiratory failure due to cocaine abuse, and the etiology, clinical presentation and the treatment of the disease were evaluated in our study.
Keywords : Acute respiratory failure; cocaine; spontaneous pneumomediastinum
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