Re-expansion Pulmonary Edema in a patient with Secondary Spontaneous Pneumothorax Following Closed Thoracostomy: A Case Report

Although re-expansion pulmonary edema (RPE) is rare (incidence rate <1%), it is associated with a mortality rate of >20%; therefore, early diagnosis and treatment are important. We report a case of RPE following chest tube insertion in a patient with spontaneous pneumothorax. We have specifically focused on the mechanism underlying RPE and the possible etiology. An 82-year-old man with a history of chronic anemia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension was referred to the emergency department for management of recurrent right-sided pneumothorax. We performed emergency closed thoracostomy for suspected tension pneumothorax, which led to stabilization of the patient’s vital signs; however, he coughed up frothy pink sputum accompanied by severe right-sided chest pain 30 min postoperatively. The patient showed new-onset right pulmonary consolidation on chest radiography, as well as desaturation, tachycardia, and tachypnea and was diagnosed with RPE. He was transferred to the intensive care unit for mechanical ventilation and supportive treatment using diuretics, ionotropic agents, and prophylactic antibiotics. RPE gradually resolved, and the patient was extubated 3 days after admission. He has not experienced recurrent pneumothorax or pulmonary disease for 4 months. We emphasize the importance of RPE prevention and that aggressive ventilator care and supportive treatment can effectively treat RPE following an accurate understanding of the underlying pathogenetic mechanisms and risk factors.

Spontaneous alveolo-pleural fistula in a case of COVID-19 pneumonia-challenges and solutions: case report

COVID-19 pneumonia has demonstrated a wide spectrum of clinical presentations that have yet to be completely uncovered. As this pandemic progresses, uncommon presentations of this disease have come into light. Development of broncho/alveolo-pleural fistula in a patient with COVID-19 pneumonia is a rare phenomenon with only 4 cases reported in literature till date. A 61-year-old gentleman presented to the emergency department with fever, cough, and shortness of breath. His initial chest X-ray was suggestive of a viral pneumonia that was later confirmed to be due to COVID-19. The patient was put on non-invasive ventilator support and treated with empirical antibiotics, glucocorticoids, anti-viral medications and convalescent plasma therapy. Four weeks into the patient’s hospital course, his vital parameters suddenly deteriorated with a subsequent chest X-ray showing a tension pneumothorax, for which a chest tube insertion was done. However, when the air leak did not resolve by the 3rd day, a chest computed tomography (CT) was planned which showed a spontaneous alveolo-pleural fistula (APF). The patient was managed with conservative treatment using negative suction applied to an underwater seal, had his chest tube removed 10 days later and was discharged subsequently. Spontaneous fistulisation between broncho-alveolar tree and pleura can occur rarely in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia and can be managed using underwater seal with negative suction, insertion of endobronchial valves or surgical closure, and needs to be individualised.

Impact of Specific Emergency Measures on Survival in Out-of-Hospital Traumatic Cardiac Arrest

Introduction: The management of out-of-hospital traumatic cardiac arrest (TCA) for professional rescuers entails Advanced Life Support (ALS) with specific actions to treat the potential reversible causes of the arrest: hypovolemia, hypoxemia, tension pneumothorax (TPx), and tamponade. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of specific rescue measures on short-term outcomes in the context of resuscitating patients with a TCA. Methods: This retrospective study concerns all TCA patients treated in two emergency medical units, which are part of the Northern French Alps Emergency Network (RENAU), from January 2004 through December 2017. Utstein variables and specific rescue measures in TCA were compiled: fluid expansion, pelvic stabilization, tourniquet application, bilateral thoracostomy, and thoracotomy procedures. The primary endpoint was survival rate at Day 30 with good neurological status (Cerebral Performance Category [CPC] score CPC 1 and CPC 2). Results: In total, 287 resuscitation attempts in TCA were included and 279 specific interventions were identified: 262 fluid expansions, 41 pelvic stabilizations, five tourniquets, and 175 bilateral thoracostomies (including 44 with TPx). Conclusion: Among the standard resuscitation measures to treat the reversible causes of cardiac arrest, this study found that bilateral thoracostomy and tourniquet application on a limb hemorrhage improve survival in TCA. A larger sample for pelvic stabilization is needed.

Bilateral Spontaneous Pneumothorax in a COVID-19 and HIV-Positive Patient: A Case Report

This case report describes a 60 year-old Black-American male with a past medical history of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and hyperthyroidism, who suffered a bilateral spontaneous pneumothorax (SP) in the setting of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia. SP is a well-established complication in HIV-positive patients and only recently has been associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. While HIV and COVID-19 infections have been independently linked with increased risk of SP development, it is unknown if both infections interact in a synergistic fashion to exacerbate SP risk. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), patients living with HIV have a higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 infection and the mechanism remains to be elucidated. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a HIV-positive patient, who in the setting of SARS-CoV-2 infection, developed bilateral apical spontaneous pneumothorax and was later found to have a left lower lobe tension pneumothorax. This case highlights the importance of considering SP on the differential diagnosis when HIV-positive patients suddenly develop respiratory distress in the setting of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Towards enhanced telephone triage for chest pain: a Delphi study to define life-threatening conditions that must be identified

Background Improving telephone triage for patients with chest pain has been identified as a national research priority. However, there is a lack of strong evidence to define the life-threatening conditions (LTCs) that telephone triage ought to identify. Therefore, we aimed to build consensus for the LTCs associated with chest pain that ought to be identified during telephone triage for emergency calls. Methods We conducted a Delphi study in three rounds. Twenty experts in pre-hospital care and emergency medicine experience from the UK were invited to participate. In round I, experts were asked to list all LTCs that would require priority 1, 2, and 4 ambulance responses. Round II was a ranking evaluation, and round III was a consensus round. Consensus level was predefined at > = 70%. Results A total of 15 participants responded to round one and 10 to rounds two and three. Of 185 conditions initially identified by the experts, 26 reached consensus in the final round. Ten conditions met consensus for requiring priority 1 response: oesophageal perforation/rupture; ST elevation myocardial infarction; non-ST elevation myocardial infarction with clinical compromise (defined, also by consensus, as oxygen saturation < 90%, heart rate < 40/min or systolic blood pressure < 90 mmHg); acute heart failure; cardiac tamponade; life-threatening asthma; cardiac arrest; tension pneumothorax and massive pulmonary embolism. An additional six conditions met consensus for priority 2 response, and three for priority 4 response. Conclusion Using expert consensus, we have defined the LTCs that may present with chest pain, which ought to receive a high-priority ambulance response. This list of conditions can now form a composite primary outcome for future studies to derive and validate clinical prediction models that will optimise telephone triage for patients with a primary complaint of chest pain.

Do comprehensive deep learning algorithms suffer from hidden stratification? A retrospective study on pneumothorax detection in chest radiography

ObjectivesTo evaluate the ability of a commercially available comprehensive chest radiography deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) to detect simple and tension pneumothorax, as stratified by the following subgroups: the presence of an intercostal drain; rib, clavicular, scapular or humeral fractures or rib resections; subcutaneous emphysema and erect versus non-erect positioning. The hypothesis was that performance would not differ significantly in each of these subgroups when compared with the overall test dataset.DesignA retrospective case–control study was undertaken.SettingCommunity radiology clinics and hospitals in Australia and the USA.ParticipantsA test dataset of 2557 chest radiography studies was ground-truthed by three subspecialty thoracic radiologists for the presence of simple or tension pneumothorax as well as each subgroup other than positioning. Radiograph positioning was derived from radiographer annotations on the images.Outcome measuresDCNN performance for detecting simple and tension pneumothorax was evaluated over the entire test set, as well as within each subgroup, using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). A difference in AUC of more than 0.05 was considered clinically significant.ResultsWhen compared with the overall test set, performance of the DCNN for detecting simple and tension pneumothorax was statistically non-inferior in all subgroups. The DCNN had an AUC of 0.981 (0.976–0.986) for detecting simple pneumothorax and 0.997 (0.995–0.999) for detecting tension pneumothorax.ConclusionsHidden stratification has significant implications for potential failures of deep learning when applied in clinical practice. This study demonstrated that a comprehensively trained DCNN can be resilient to hidden stratification in several clinically meaningful subgroups in detecting pneumothorax.

Bronchopleural Fistula associated Tension Pneumothorax in SARS- COVID 19: A case report

COVID-19 can cause pneumothorax but pneumothorax in COVID-19 patient associated with bronchopleural fistula is very rarely reported. We present this unusual case of Tension Pneumothorax in COVID -19 Patient associated with Bronchopleural Fistula.

A pneumatocele observed in the thoracic cavity after bronchoalveolar lavage

A 76-year-old man was admitted to the respiratory medicine department with 5 days of a non-productive cough and exertional dyspnea. A computed tomography revealed multiple mild patchy consolidations in both lungs (Figure 1). Despite antibiotic therapy, there was poor improvement in laboratory and radiological parameters. A bronchoscopy was performed on day 5. The bronchoscopy was wedged in left B5 and a bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was performed. After the BAL, we noticed a fistula in the depth of left B5 and saw a structure like a pleural cavity in the back of the fistula (Figure 2). We diagnosed the patient’s condition as pneumatocele (PC). BAL showed 46% lymphocytes and the CD4/8 ratio as 3:7. These findings suggested cryptogenic organizing pneumonia (COP). It took 3 weeks for the PC to improve. Bilateral multiple consolidations improved after the administration of a steroid (PSL 0.5 mg/kg). PCs can occur in infections, chest trauma, barotrauma from mechanical ventilation, and bronchial interventions [1,2]. The mechanism of PC formation is closely related to that of a check valve. The check valve may be composed of exudate from inflammation and the destroyed wall of the respiratory tract [3]. In this case, it was considered that the wedged bronchoscopy and collapsed bronchial wall became the check-valve. PCs can be a severe condition including tension pneumothorax, bronchopleural fistula, and secondary infections [4]. In our case, as we were concerned about new complications due to the PC we did not prescribe a steroid for COP until the PC had improved. To our knowledge, no papers have reported internal observations of PC. We herein report the first case of PC observed in the thoracic cavity after BAL.