title: Pneumocephalus Following Thoracic Surgery with Posterior Chest Wall Resection.
abstract: Pneumocephalus can be seen after head injury with fracture of the skull-base or in cerebral neoplasm, infection, or after intracranial or spinal surgery. We report on a 69-year-old male patient with pneumocephalus after right-sided lobectomy and en bloc resection of the chest wall for non-small-cell lung cancer. Postoperatively, the patient showed a reduced vigilance level with no response to pain stimuli and anisocoria. The CCT scan revealed an extensive pneumocephalus; following which, the patient underwent neurosurgery with laminectomy and ligature of the transected nerve roots. After operation the patient returned to his baseline mental status.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Helios Klinikum Emil von Behring, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Ina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Helios Klinikum Emil von Behring, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tönnies
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Helios Klinikum Emil von Behring, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pfannschmidt
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Helios Klinikum Emil von Behring, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kaiser
keywords: chest wall; lung cancer treatment (surgery medical); neurology/neurologic (deficits disease injury); thoracic surgery