Meteorological Conditions Related to the Onset of Spontaneous Pneumothorax

Abstract

Spontaneous pneumothorax is defined as the rupture of bleb or emphysematous bullae that develop just beneath the pulmonary pleura. Weather changes may influence the incidence of spontaneous pneumothorax. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of rainfall, temperature and atmospheric pressure changes on the onset of spontaneous pneumothorax. The study involved 669 spontaneous pneumothorax admissions to three reference hospitals in Ankara, Turkey between 1996 and 2006 (612 males and 57 females with the mean age of 34.0 +/- 15.5 years). The meteorological data were obtained from Turkish State Meteorological Services for temperature, atmospheric pressure, and rainfall. The correlation between these values and spontaneous pneumothorax clusters, which was defined as the admission of at least two patients with pneumothorax within three days of each other, was evaluated. Among 669 episodes of spontaneous pneumothorax, 472 (70.5%) occurred in 188 clusters. When compared to days without spontaneous pneumothorax, the amount of average rainfall on the day of admission with spontaneous pneumothorax, one day before and two days before the admission was significantly high. Similarly, the atmospheric pressure on one day and two days before the admission of spontaneous pneumothorax patients was significantly low. In addition, maximum temperature level was significantly lower on admission day of spontaneous pneumothorax patients compared to those on the days without spontaneous pneumothorax. This largest series of the literature shows that spontaneous pneumothorax occurs in clusters and suggests that rainfall, temperature and falls in atmospheric pressure might play a role in the pathophysiology of spontaneous pneumothorax.

Do Meteorological Changes Have an Effect on The Occurence of Spontaneous Pneumothorax?

“…It has been suggested that the undulation of the weather conditions cause weakening of the walls of small air cysts in lungs. However, we obtained results similar to some other trials that have reported no relationship between SP incidence and seasons, months [7]. SP occurs in episodes and clusters [11,12].…”

“…Incidence of pneumothorax is around 18-28/100.000 in men and 2-6/100.000 among women [3,7]. In our study, 92% of the patients were male and the rest were female.…”

“…A sudden change in pressure may cause SP during flight or diving. Many former studies have investigated the impact of meteorological variables (atmospheric pressure, ambient temperature, amount of precipitation, humidity rate, and wind velocity) on the incidence of SP [7,11]. A clustering pattern of the hospital presentations of the SP cases have led to scrutinization of the climate and weather conditions.…”

“…The SSP variety, on the other hand, usually occurs due to an underlying lung disorder, such as obstructive lung disease, tuberculosis, immune deficiency syndromes, sarcoidosis, pneumonia, or cystic fibrosis [5]. Some authors have hypothesized that there is a prominent link between the SP rate and low humidity in that the bronchoconstriction occurring during humidification of dry air inside the airways may play a role in the physiopathology of pneumothorax and thus atmospheric pressure changes as well as humidity and increased temperature may increase SP rate [6][7][8][9].…”

Influence of Weather Conditions on the Onset of Primary Spontaneous Pneumothorax: Positive Association with Decreased Atmospheric Pressure

“…[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] There are 4 reports demonstrating positive relationship on the atmospheric pressure and the onset of pneumothorax. Bense et al reported a significant increase in the number of hospitalizations for SP within the 2-day period following a decrease of 10 hPa or more in the atmospheric pressure within a time-period of 24 hours.…”