title: Does pneumothorax occurrence correlate with a change in the weather?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There has been speculation that weather changes correlate with the incidence of spontaneous pneumothorax, although this has not been verified. Moreover, there are no significant data available on the meteoropathic pneumothorax in Asia. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible correlation and to compare our results to those of the United States and Europe.
  
  
  METHODS
  From January 2000 to December 2009, 317 spontaneous pneumothorax cases with clear dates of onset were treated in our institution. Using the meteorological data of Fukuoka, Japan, the days with and without an occurrence of pneumothorax were statistically compared in terms of atmospheric pressure, the amount of precipitation, temperature, humidity, hours of sunshine, and occurrence of a typhoon and lightning.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Multivariate analysis revealed that a decrease in the hours of sunshine, an increase in mean temperatures 2 days before the incidence, and the days following a day with lightning were all significantly correlated with the occurrence of pneumothorax (P = 0.2 days before the incidence, and the days following a day with lightning were all significantly correlated with the occurrence of pneumothorax (P = 0.0083, 0.0032, 0.0351, respectively). However, typhoons, as an "unusual" weather condition, did not influence the incidence of pneumothorax (P = 0.983).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results show strong similarities with reports from European countries despite the different climates. We conclude that the occurrence of pneumothorax appears to correlate with some weather conditions in Japan.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Fukuoka University, School of Medicine, 7-45-1 Nanakuma, Jonan-ku, Fukuoka, 814-0180, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Obuchi
authors.forename: Tatsu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyoshi
authors.forename: Sou
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miyahara
authors.forename: Wakako
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hamanaka
authors.forename: Hiroyasu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakashima
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yanagisawa
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hamatake
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Imakiire
authors.forename: Yasuteru
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yoshinaga
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shiraishi
authors.forename: Akinori
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Iwasaki
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001274:Atmospheric Pressure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011030:Pneumothorax / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014887:Weather; D055815:Young Adult