title: Pneumoperitoneum recurring concomitantly with asthmatic exacerbation.
abstract: We report a patient with pneumoperitoneum that recurred concomitantly with asthmatic exacerbation. The patient was a 71-year-old man with a medical history of bronchial asthma. Chest X-rays obtained during asthmatic exacerbation showed intra-abdominal air beneath his diaphragm. Subsequently, a computed tomography scan of his chest confirmed mediastinal emphysema and intra-abdominal air beneath his diaphragm. The intra-abdominal air disappeared after his asthmatic exacerbation was relieved by treatment. The patient showed recurrent pneumoperitoneum concomitant with asthmatic exacerbation. The cause of his pneumoperitoneum was conjectured to be the movement of air from the mediastinum to the peritoneal cavity through the sternocostal triangle.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Toho University Medical Center, Tokyo. k-sekiya@sagamihara-hosp.gr.jp
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sekiya
authors.forename: Takako
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hojyo
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Katsuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Toyama
authors.forename: Hidetomi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ryo
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Masami
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.forename: Sakae
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Homma
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001249:Asthma / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008478:Mediastinal Emphysema / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D011027:Pneumoperitoneum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D011859:Radiography; D012008:Recurrence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index