Is Pectus Excavatum a Risk Factor for Spontaneous Pneumothorax? “Haller Index Measurements in Patients with Primary Spontaneous Pneumothorax”

Abstract

Aim. In this study, we aimed to retrospectively investigate whether pectus excavatum (PE) is a risk factor for the development of primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) and to determine its role in the etiology of the disease. Materials and Methods. Chest-computed tomography (CT) of the patients who were treated for spontaneous pneumothorax between January 2015 and December 2017 in our clinic was examined, and their Haller indices were measured (group I). The patients in the control group who underwent chest CT for other reasons during the same period and were in the same age with the group I were also included in the study (group II) Results. In group I, for patients with PE, the mean Haller index was 2.41, while it was 2.09 in the control group (group II). There was a significant difference between the two groups. Conclusions. PE deformities in the chest wall may predispose to the development of spontaneous pneumothorax, and PE may be among the etiologic factors of spontaneous pneumothorax. Therefore, there is a need for studies involving larger patient groups.

Small pleural holes of the apical parietal pleura: an unknown precursors of cervical lung hernia and association with primary spontaneous pneumothorax

“…Shiiya and colleagues reported that in patients with apical pleural holes the chest wall flatness was not as severe as that in subjects without pleural holes. This chest wall feature in patients with pleural holes still seems flatter in respect to normal controls reported in other studies, although the chest wall method of measurement was slightly different from Shiiya’s group ( 19 , 20 ). In Shiiya et al ’s opinion, these features suggest that subjects with apical pleural holes may have some specific findings that leads to pneumothorax, which are different from other subjects with primary spontaneous pneumothorax.…”

Severity of Pectus Excavatum is a Risk Factor for Primary Spontaneous Pneumothorax

“…Our group reported a higher incidence of PSP in PE patients in Taiwan, with a 7.83-fold increased risk [8]. Kılıc ¸gu ¨n et al [9] published a finding of a higher mean HI in PSP patients than in the control group (2.41 vs. 2.09, p = 0.006). In our data from 2011 to 2014, we also found a higher average HI of 2.81 among 304 PSP patients.…”

Diverse clinical presentation of primary spontaneous pneumothorax in patients with pectus excavatum

“…Patients with PE were reported to have a significantly higher cumulative incidence of PSP that was approximately twice that (0.36% vs. 0.15%; hazard ratio 7.83 and p = 0.002) of a control group ( 10 ). Additionally, Kılıçgün et al ( 11 ) found that patients with PSP had a significantly higher mean HI (2.41 vs. 2.09, p = 0.006) compared to those in the control group. Moreover, Peters et al ( 12 ) reported that PSP was associated with a longer and flatter chest shape, and Park et al ( 13 ) showed that PSP patients had anteroposteriorly flatter, laterally narrower, and craniocaudally taller thoraxes.…”