title: Chronic spontaneous pneumothorax decortication after 130 days.
abstract: The case of a 21-year-old male with neglected and protracted spontaneous pneumothorax is reported. Video-assisted thoracoscopy after 130 days showed the lung to be trapped solely by a thick pleurovisceral membrane, which required open surgical decortication. Chronic pneumothorax is a rare complication of spontaneous pneumothorax. This is the second report on a chronic pneumothorax solely due to a pleurovisceral membrane and the longest reported interval until decortication.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery and Thoracic Surgery, Christian-Albrechts University Hospital, Kiel, Germany. boehle@surgery.uni-kiel.de
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Böhle
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kurdow
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dohrmann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010994:Pleura / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D011030:Pneumothorax / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D020775:Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed