Pneumothorax: an up to date "introduction"
Antonios Papagiannis1, George Lazaridis1, Konstantinos Zarogoulidis1
11 Pulmonary Department, "Saint Luke" Private Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece ; 2 Department of Medical Oncology, Aristotle University School of Medicine, Thessaloniki, Greece ; 3 Pulmonary-Oncology, "G. Papanikolaou" General Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece ; 4 Oncology Department, "Interbalkan" European Medical Center, Thessaloniki, Greece ; 5 Oncology Department, "BioMedicine" Private Clinic, Thessaloniki, Greece ; 6 Surgery Department, University General Hospital of Alexandroupolis, Alexandroupolis, Greece ; 7 Thoracic Surgery Department, "Saint Luke" Private Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece ; 8 2nd Pulmonary Clinic of "Sotiria" Hospital, Athens, Greece ; 9 Pulmonary Laboratory of Alexandra Hospital University of Athens, Athens, Greece ; 10 Ear, Nose and Throat, "Saint Luke" Private Hospital, Panorama, Thessaloniki, Greece ; 11 Nuclear Medicine Department, University General Hospital of Alexandroupolis, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece.
Abstract:
The pneumothorax is an abnormal collection of air or gas in the pleural space that separates the lung from the chest wall. Like pleural effusion where a large abnormal concentration of fluid (>100 mL) is liquid buildup in that space, pneumothorax may interfere with normal breathing. A medical term that it is used is the collapsed lung, although that term may also refer to atelectasis. There are two major types of pneumothorax; there is one that occurs without an apparent cause and in the absence of significant lung disease, while the so called; "secondary" pneumothorax occurs in the presence of existing lung pathology. In a minority of cases, the amount of air in the chest increases markedly when a one-way valve is formed by an area of damaged tissue, leading to a third type of pneumothorax, called "tensioned".
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