Open AccessAurea diagnosis of pneumomediastinum. A case report
Author(s) -
Lucio Brugioni,
Francesca De Niederhausern,
Chiara Gozzi,
Pietro Martella,
Elisa Romagnoli,
Beatrice Aramini,
Federica Bocchi,
Caterina Solieri
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
italian journal of medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.134
H-Index - 10
eISSN - 1877-9352
pISSN - 1877-9344
DOI - 10.4081/itjm.2020.1292
Subject(s) - pneumomediastinum , medicine , chest pain , pericarditis , differential diagnosis , emergency department , medical diagnosis , acute pericarditis , radiology , surgery , pneumothorax , pathology , psychiatry
Pericarditis and spontaneous pneumomediastinum are among the pathologies that are in differential diagnoses when a patient describes dorsal irradiated chest pain: if the patient is young, male, and long-limbed, it is necessary to exclude an acute aortic syndrome firstly. We present the case of a young man who arrived at the Emergency Department for chest pain: an echocardiogram performed an immediate diagnosis of pericarditis. However, if the patient had performed a chest X-ray, this would have enabled the observation of pneumomediastinum, allowing a correct diagnosis of pneumomediastinum and treatment. The purpose of this report is to highlight the importance of the diagnostic process.