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Woo, Jung, Seong, Jeong, Cho, Kang, and Lee: Spontaneous Pneumomediastinum Complicating with Asthma
Case Report

The Ewha Medical Journal 2014; 37(Suppl): S19-S23.

Published online: 24 December 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.12771/emj.2014.37.S.S19

Spontaneous Pneumomediastinum Complicating with Asthma

Yong Moon Woo, Eun Jung Jung, Ji Seok Seong, Beom Jin Jeong, Young Jun Cho, Yeong Mo Kang, Eun Lee

Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul Red Cross Hospital, Seoul, Korea.

Corresponding author: Eun Jung Jung. Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul Red Cross Hospital, 9 Saemunan-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-747, Korea. Tel: 82-2-2002-8344, Fax: 82-2-2002-8347, mdjungej@naver.com

Received 19 June 2014       Accepted 24 July 2014

Copyright © 2014, The Ewha Medical Journal

(open-access):

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Spontaneous pneumomediastinum is an uncommon disease that is defined as the presence of free air in the mediastinum in the absence of any obvious precipitating cause. This condition occurs as a rare complication of acute exacerbation of asthma. Classic symptoms include retrosternal chest pain, dyspnea and cough, but are not specific. Spontaneous pneumomediastinum complicated by asthma is usually self-limiting and well controlled with conservative management, but this condition can be potentially life threatening. We report a case of 18-year-old woman with asthma who presented with spontaneous pneumomediastinum. The patient was treated conservatively with oxygen and steroid therapy, and her clinical conditions were improved. Spontaneous pneumomediastinum disappeared.

Keywords: Asthma, Pneumomediastinum

Figures and Tables

Fig. 1
Chest X-ray findings on admission. (A) A posteroanterior view of chest X-ray shows linear air density extended vertically from the internal side of left clavicle into the neck (arrow). (B) A lateral view of chest X-ray shows no obvious air density.
emj-37-S19-g001
Fig. 2
Chest computed tomography (CT) findings on admission. An axial CT image shows diffuse pneumomediastinum around neck, esophagus, aorta and trachea (arrow).
emj-37-S19-g002
Fig. 3
Follow-up chest X-ray and computed tomography (CT) findings 10 days later. A posteroanterior view of chest X-ray (A) and chest CT (B) show complete disappearance of pneumomediastinum.
emj-37-S19-g003
Table 1
Summary of the reported cases of spontaneous pneumomediastinum in asthma
emj-37-S19-i001

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