Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 26, 2026

Monitoring Lung Function with Electrical Impedance Tomography in the Intensive Care Unit
Published on: September 6, 2024
Tension pneumopericardium caused by positive pressure ventilation complicating anaerobic pneumonia
C P Bleeker-Rovers1, F J J van den Elshout, T I F M Bloemen
1Department of Internal Medicine 541, University Medical Centre St Radboud, PO Box 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, the Netherlands. C.Bleeker-Rovers@nucmed.umcn.nl
Abstract:
A 22-year-old man was admitted with pneumonia. He was immediately intubated and positive pressure ventilation was initiated. Blood and sputum cultures showed Bacteroides fragilis and Corynebacterium sp., which were treated with metronidazole and clindamycin. Three weeks later his blood pressure suddenly dropped with an elevation of the central venous pressure. Chest X-ray revealed a pneumopericardium. A parasternal mediastinotomy with partial pericardiectomy was immediately performed. On opening the pericardium his blood pressure normalised. The patient gradually recovered and six weeks after admission he was extubated. Two weeks later he was discharged. A pneumopericardium without previous thorax trauma is very rare and early recognition is imperative because a tension pneumopericardium with cardiac tamponade may develop, as happened in this case. A tension pneumopericardium has to be treated with immediate pericardiocentesis followed by partial pericardiectomy to avoid recurrence.
Related Concept Videos
Pneumothorax II: Pathophysiology
Pneumothorax-I
Pneumothorax can be even further classified as spontaneous, traumatic, and tension pneumothorax.
Pneumothorax-II
Clinical Manifestations:
Pneumonia I: Introduction
Pneumonia I: Introduction
Risk Factors
Various factors influence the likelihood of developing pneumonia. Age plays a crucial role, with infants, children under two, and individuals over 65 at increased risk due to their...
Pneumonia III: Complications and Assessment
