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Pneumothorax Case 1

A 20 year old man presents with shortness of breath and pleuritic chest pain. What does this ultrasound show?

Reveal Answer
  • This scan demonstrates a pneumothorax.
  • The echogenic parietal pleural line is clearly defined and lung sliding is lost, reflecting the still air lying between the separated visceral and parietal pleural layers.

For completeness you examine the non-painful lung. What does this scan demonstrate?

View 2
Reveal Answer
  • This scan demonstrates normal lung
  • The two pleural surfaces can be seen sliding against one another.
  • The comet tail artefact would be obscured if a pneumothorax was present.

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An Emergency physician based in Perth, Western Australia. Professionally my passion lies in integrating advanced diagnostic and procedural ultrasound into clinical assessment and management of the undifferentiated patient. Sharing hard fought knowledge with innovative educational techniques to ensure knowledge translation and dissemination is my goal. Family, wild coastlines, native forests, and tinkering in the shed fills the rest of my contented time. | SonoCPDUltrasound library | Top 100 | @thesonocave |

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