Open AccessFatal recurrence of pneumothorax in an adult dermatomyositis
Author(s) -
Rakesh Agarwal,
Durjoy Lahiri,
Amrita Biswas,
Jotideb Mukhopadhyay,
Manoj Roy
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of association of chest physicians
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2320-9089
pISSN - 2320-8775
DOI - 10.4103/2320-8775.146846
Subject(s) - medicine , pneumothorax , dermatomyositis , complication , interstitial lung disease , surgery , lung , dermatology
Dermatomyositis (DM) is an uncommon idiopathic inflammatory myopathy with characteristic cutaneous involvement that affects children and adults. Association of lung cancer and interstitial lung disease with DM has been well established, but spontaneous pneumothorax is rare. Recurrent spontaneous pneumothorax as a fatal complication in adult DM has not been described until date. We report a rare case of the patient with adult DM who presented with severe dyspnea. Chest X-rays revealed it to be a case of spontaneous pneumothorax. She had a history of a similar episode 15 days back. In the hospital, she was treated with intercostal drain placement, but succumbed despite vigorous resuscitative effort. Our case attempts to highlights the importance of recognizing recurrent pneumothorax as a potential serious complication of the disease