Pleura & peritoneum
Pleura nonneoplastic conditions
Pneumothorax
Author: Vaidehi Avadhani, M.D.
Last author update: 1 December 2013
Last staff update: 2 September 2020
Copyright: 2003-2024, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Pneumothorax[TI] pleural[TI] full text[sb]
Table of Contents
Definition / generalCite this page: Avadhani V. Pneumothorax. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/pleurapneumothorax.html. Accessed April 19th, 2024.
Definition / general
- All types may cause compression, collapse, atelectasis of lung and associated respiratory distress
- Either spontaneous, traumatic or therapeutic
- Spontaneous: due to abscess, tuberculosis, emphysema, asthma
- Traumatic: due to puncture of chest wall or lung
- Therapeutic: formerly used to treat tuberculosis
- Spontaneous idiopathic: young people, rupture of small, peripheral, apical subpleural blebs, usually subsides spontaneously but may recur and be disabling
- Tension pneumothorax: acts as one way valve to trap air during inhalation; may compress contralateral lung, mediastinal structures
