Exercise-induced pneumomediastinum
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 29, 2026

Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment as a Useful Adjunctive Tool for Pneumonia
Published on: May 6, 2014
Tomoyuki Tobushi1, Kazuya Hosokawa2, Keita Matsumoto3
1Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Saiseikai Futsukaichi Hospital, 3-13-1 Yumachi, Chikushino-shi, 818-8516, Fukuoka, Japan. tobushi@cardiol.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp.
Background:
A sudden onset of chest pain, which often reflects a life-threatening disease, requires prompt diagnosis in the emergency department.
Findings:
A 12-year-old boy presented with sustained chest pain and dyspnea after diving into a swimming pool and was transferred to our emergency department. A chest examination noted a crunching and rasping sound at the precordium, synchronous with the heartbeat. Chest radiography showed lucent streaks and the mediastinal pleura at the left cardiac outline. Additionally, computed tomography showed massive pneumomediastinum surrounding the heart. Thus, he was diagnosed with spontaneous pneumomediastinum.
Conclusions:
Spontaneous pneumomediastinum should be considered in the differential diagnosis of chest pain. In addition to medical history-taking, careful physical examination, which can identify the characteristic finding of a friction sound synchronous with the heartbeat (Hamman's sound), will help in the immediate diagnosis of spontaneous pneumomediastinum.
Related Concept Videos
Pneumothorax-II
Clinical Manifestations:
Pneumothorax-I
Pneumothorax can be even further classified as spontaneous, traumatic, and tension pneumothorax.
Pulmonary Ventilation: Inhalation
Boyle's law becomes particularly pertinent when examining respiratory...
Pulmonary Cycle: Exhalation
Muscles of the Thorax
The diaphragm is at the core of thoracic musculature, the primary muscle involved in breathing. This expansive, dome-shaped muscle marks the division between the thoracic and abdominal cavities. It...
Pleura of the Lungs

