title: Spontaneous pneumomediastinum: origin identified by chest computed tomography.
abstract: Spontaneous pneumomediastinum (SPM) is an uncommon disorder. The mechanism of spontaneous pneumomediastinum has been speculated as follows: when air pressure in the alveoli rapidly increases, free air leaks from ruptured alveoli and accumulates along the bronchovascular tissue sheath, and then free air moves toward the mediastinum. In this case report of a 19-year-old man of SPM, a chest computed tomography (CT) revealed air in a tubular shape along the pulmonary artery in the apico-posterior segment of the left lung field. This is the first case in which the process of SPM could be identified by chest CT.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Internal Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kaneki
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kubo
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sone
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kawashima
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000388:Air; D002637:Chest Pain / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008478:Mediastinal Emphysema / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D019547:Neck Pain / Q000209:etiology; D011650:Pulmonary Alveoli / Q000293:injuries; D012422:Rupture, Spontaneous; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed