[Treatment and etiology of spontaneous hemopneumothorax]

The incidence of spontaneous hemopneumothorax is reported to be 1-12% of all cases of spontaneous pneumothorax. We treated 152 cases of spontaneous pneumothorax in the past 8 years and hemopneumothorax occurred in 4 cases which is 2.6% of all cases of spontaneous pneumothorax. All the patients were male and the age ranged from 17 to 30. The total amount of blood loss ranged from 1,200-3,200 mliters and surgical treatment was carried out within 2 days after admission. The bleeding point was visceral pleura of raptured bulla in 2 cases, parietal pleura of the torn adhesion in 1 case, and both visceral and parietal pleura in 1 case. Postoperative course was satisfactory and discharged within 2 weeks after admission in all cases. The authors concluded that early thoracotomy is recommended for spontaneous hemopneumothorax.