title: Life- threatening hemothorax due to the inferior pulmonary ligament injury without obvious organ injuries: a case report.
abstract: Traumatic hemothorax is usually associated with obvious organ injuries, such as rib fractures, pulmonary injuries, and other mediastinal injuries. We present a rare case in which a 42-year- old Korean man who fell off of a roof, approximately 3 meters in height, resulting in a life-threatening hemothorax without obvious injuries to the thoracic organs. Chest CT showed a large amount of hemothorax in the right side of the thoracic cavity, and an active bleeding, presumably from the posterior intercostal or the phrenic artery, with a focal aneurysmal change. The emergency thoracotomy was performed to bring the active bleeding under control. The operative findings showed there were only the inferior pulmonary ligament tears, and the active bleeding from it. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged without any complications. We should consider the inferior pulmonary ligamental injury as one of causes for traumatic hemothorax.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, 480-717, Geumo-dong, Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. medkjj@hanmail.net.
authors.forename: Jae Jun
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, 480-717, Geumo-dong, Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. kyh7890@catholic.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Yong Hwan
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, 480-717, Geumo-dong, Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. afomadi@lycos.co.kr.
authors.forename: Si Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, 480-717, Geumo-dong, Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. ice-bar@hanmail.net.
authors.forename: Seong Cheol
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, St. Paul Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea. swmoon@catholic.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Seok Whan
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Moon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006491:Hemothorax / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008022:Ligaments / Q000293:injuries*; D055370:Lung Injury / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D014949:Wounds, Nonpenetrating / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*