scholarly journals Non-traumatic Tension Gastrothorax: A Potential Mimicker of Tension Pneumothorax

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (8) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Jonathan D. Pierce ◽  
Neal R. Shah ◽  
Ata A. Rahnemai-Azar ◽  
Amit Gupta

Tension gastrothorax is a rare, life-threatening clinical condition caused by intrathoracic herniation of the stomach through a diaphragmatic defect which becomes increasingly distended over time. If not recognized promptly, this can rapidly progress to respiratory distress, mediastinal shift, and hemodynamic compromise. Initial clinical presentation and imaging findings closely mirror those of tension pneumothorax, confounding diagnosis and potentially leading to unnecessary interventions with increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Here, we present a case of an elderly female who presented with a non-traumatic tension gastrothorax and a review of key imaging features and strategies to aid in recognition and accurate diagnosis of this emergent clinical entity.

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. e235281
Author(s):  
Sanjan Asanaru Kunju ◽  
Prithvishree Ravindra ◽  
Ramya Kumar Madabushi Vijay ◽  
Priya Pattath Sankaran

A 20-year-old woman presented with abdominal pain and shortness of breath. She was in obstructive shock with absent breath sounds on the left haemithorax. Chest X-ray showed a large radiolucent shadow with absent lung markings and mediastinal shift to the right side with concerns for tension pneumothorax. Though tube thoracostomy was done on the left side of the chest, column movement was absent. To confirm the diagnosis CT with contrast was done that revealed a huge left side diaphragmatic defect with abdominal contents in the thorax and mediastinal structures are shifted to left. She underwent emergency laparotomy and postoperative period was uneventful.


Author(s):  
David V. Tuxen

Exacerbations of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can be life-threatening emergencies, and require careful management to minimize the risks of morbidity and mortality. Prompt, full bronchodilator therapy, careful observation and appropriate mechanical ventilation technique is required. Dynamic hyperinflation of the lungs occurs in all patients, and must be careful assessed and regulated. Excessive dynamic hyperinflation can result in respiratory tamponade, hypotension, circulatory failure, pneumothoraces and, in severe cases, cardiac arrest. Intravenous or continuous nebulized salbutamol commonly causes lactic acidosis that should be detected and managed. Prolonged paralysis during difficult mechanical ventilation can result in severe necrotizing myopathy. Pneumothoraces in ventilated patients with asthma are usually under tension, redistribute ventilation to the contralateral lung, and risk a second tension pneumothorax. Patients surviving mechanical ventilation for asthma and COPD have an increased risk of recurrence and death. All these problems require awareness, avoidance or detection and management


Author(s):  
Vivek Agarwal ◽  
Sameer Vyas ◽  
Chirag Kamal Ahuja ◽  
Vikas Bhatia ◽  
Manjul Tripathi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background and Importance Intracranial textilomas are retained surgical sponges presenting as pseudomass lesions in postoperative patients usually with surrounding inflammatory reaction. Though rare, these are commonly misdiagnosed as postoperative hemorrhagic collections, abscesses, radionecrosis, or residual/recurrent mass lesions. We describe the imaging findings of intracranial textilomas diagnosed in four patients on follow-up postoperative imaging along with their characteristic imaging findings to help radiologists/neurosurgeons make accurate diagnosis. Clinical Presentation One patient had chronic headache without any focal neurological deficits. Rest of the patients were asymptomatic at the time of presentation Conclusion In postoperative scans, possibility of textilomas should be considered apart from residual/recurrent lesions, postoperative abscesses, or radionecrosis. Correct and timely diagnosis is important for further treatment planning and patient care.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aabha A. Anekar ◽  
Sumana Nanjundachar ◽  
Dhaneshgouda Desai ◽  
Jafferali Lakhani ◽  
Prakash M. Kabbur

A congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) occurs when the abdominal contents protrude into the thoracic cavity through an opening in the diaphragm. The main pathology lies in the maldevelopment or defective fusion of the pleuroperitoneal membranes. Delayed diagnosis in later childhood as in the index case reported here can lead to life-threatening complications such as tension gastrothorax and gastric volvulus. Such life-threatening conditions should be managed emergently avoiding misdiagnoses and untoward harm to the patient. We report a pediatric case of an 8-year-old boy who presented with respiratory distress, chest pain, and non-bilious vomiting. He was initially diagnosed with tension pneumothorax, and the chest x-ray was interpreted as hydropneumothorax. A chest tube placement was planned but was withheld due to excessive vomiting. A nasogastric (NG) tube was placed, and a barium-filled radiograph showed an intrathoracic presence of the stomach. A diagnosis of a congenital diaphragmatic hernia with tension gastrothorax was made. The posterolateral (Bochdalek) diaphragmatic hernia was repaired successfully. This case report highlights the importance of including a late-presenting CDH in the differential diagnoses of pediatric patients who present with respiratory distress, chest pain, non-bilious vomiting, and radiological findings suggestive of tension pneumothorax.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 2050313X2096750
Author(s):  
Kwesi Amoah ◽  
Kulothungan Gunasekaran ◽  
Mandeep Singh Rahi ◽  
Michael G Buscher

Complications that arise in patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia are acute respiratory distress syndrome, often leading to mechanical ventilation, shock requiring vasopressors, acute kidney injury, stroke, thromboembolic phenomena, and myocardial injury. To date, there are four cases of tension pneumothorax in patients with COVID-19, published in literature. We present a 33-year-old man with no prior history of lung disease who was admitted to our hospital on account of hypoxic respiratory failure secondary to COVID-19 pneumonia. During his hospitalization, he developed sudden onset of chest pain which worsened with coughing. A chest X-ray showed a right-sided pneumothorax with left-sided mediastinal shift. He required placement of chest tubes with eventual resolution of the pneumothorax several days later. This case highlights the need for clinical recognition, consideration of differential diagnoses, prompt evaluation, appropriate imaging, and management of this severe life-threatening unusual complication of COVID-19 pneumonia.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. e240478
Author(s):  
James Phelan ◽  
Rengarajan Subramanian ◽  
Adeep Krishnan Kutty Menon

A 71-year-old woman was brought in by ambulance to the emergency department with sudden-onset difficulty in breathing whilst shopping at a large UK retail shopping centre. She had no respiratory history and portable chest X-ray revealed a huge gastrothorax, secondary pneumothorax and mediastinal shift. Clinical deterioration with haemodynamic instability required urgent decompression. Successful needle decompression followed by tube thoracostomy improved patient condition with no further complications. Surgical repair was performed but was delayed by COVID-19. This case provides a rare presentation of an acute life-threatening tension gastrothorax with difficult management considerations. A review of the management options is undertaken.


2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 75-84
Author(s):  
Venkata Vijaya K. Dalai ◽  
Jason E. Childress ◽  
Paul E Schulz

Dementia is a major public health concern that afflicts an estimated 24.3 million people worldwide. Great strides are being made in order to better diagnose, prevent, and treat these disorders. Dementia is associated with multiple complications, some of which can be life-threatening, such as dysphagia. There is great variability between dementias in terms of when dysphagia and other swallowing disorders occur. In order to prepare the reader for the other articles in this publication discussing swallowing issues in depth, the authors of this article will provide a brief overview of the prevalence, risk factors, pathogenesis, clinical presentation, diagnosis, current treatment options, and implications for eating for the common forms of neurodegenerative dementias.


Author(s):  
Gabriel Guízar Sahagún

Besides the well-known loss of motor and sensory capabilities, people with spinal cord injury (SCI) experience a broad range of systemic and metabolic abnormalities including, among others, dysfunction of cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, urinary, and endocrine systems. These alterations are a significant challenge for patients with SCI because such disorders severely interfere with their daily living and can be potentially life-threatening. Most of these disorders are associated with impairment of regulation of the autonomic nervous system, arising from disruption of connections between higher brain centers and the spinal cord caudal to the injured zone. Thus, the higher and more complete the lesion, the greater the autonomic dysfunction and the severity of complications.This article summarizes the medical scientific literature on key systemic and metabolic alterations derived of SCI. It provides information primarily focused on the pathophysiology and clinical presentation of these disorders, as well as some guides to prevent and alleviate such complications. Due to the impact of these alterations, this topic must be a priority and diffuse to those involved with the care of people with SCI, including the patient himself/herself. We consider that any collaborative effort should be supported, like the development of international standards, to evaluate autonomic function after SCI, as well as the development of novel therapeutic approaches.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (13) ◽  
pp. 2776
Author(s):  
Miren Altuna ◽  
Sandra Giménez ◽  
Juan Fortea

Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) have an increased risk for epilepsy during the whole lifespan, but especially after age 40 years. The increase in the number of individuals with DS living into late middle age due to improved health care is resulting in an increase in epilepsy prevalence in this population. However, these epileptic seizures are probably underdiagnosed and inadequately treated. This late onset epilepsy is linked to the development of symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease (AD), which is the main comorbidity in adults with DS with a cumulative incidence of more than 90% of adults by the seventh decade. More than 50% of patients with DS and AD dementia will most likely develop epilepsy, which in this context has a specific clinical presentation in the form of generalized myoclonic epilepsy. This epilepsy, named late onset myoclonic epilepsy (LOMEDS) affects the quality of life, might be associated with worse cognitive and functional outcomes in patients with AD dementia and has an impact on mortality. This review aims to summarize the current knowledge about the clinical and electrophysiological characteristics, diagnosis and treatment of epileptic seizures in the DS population, with a special emphasis on LOMEDS. Raised awareness and a better understanding of epilepsy in DS from families, caregivers and clinicians could enable earlier diagnoses and better treatments for individuals with DS.


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