A healthy 18-year-old man collapses while playing basketball. He shows no external signs of injury but becomes increasingly dyspneic with right-sided chest pain 30 minutes later. The paramedics bring him to the hospital and note that breath sounds are absent over the right lung fields. A right-sided thoracentesis yields a rush of air. Which of the following pre-existing conditions did this patient likely have?
A healthy 18-year-old man collapses while playing basketball. He shows no external signs of injury but becomes increasingly dyspneic with right-sided chest pain 30 minutes later. The paramedics bring him to the hospital and note that breath sounds are absent over the right lung fields. A right-sided thoracentesis yields a rush of air. Which of the following pre-existing conditions did this patient likely have?
The correct answer is B.
Paraseptal emphysema is uncommon, but it accounts for the majority of cases of spontaneous pneumothorax in young persons. Small, subpleural bullae in these individuals can burst with minimal trauma. Asymmetric, absent breath sounds with a rush of free air during thoracentesis is diagnostic of pneumothorax. Pneumothorax is not commonly seen in any of the other conditions listed in the answer choices
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