Pneumothorax differential diagnosis
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Differential Diagnosis of Conditions that Pneumothorax must be Distinguished From
- Acute Myocardial Infarction: presents with shortness of breath and chest pain, though MI chest pain is characteristically crushing, central and radiating to the jaw, left arm or stomach. While not a lung condition, patients having an MI often happen to also have lung disease.
- Emphysema: here, delicate functional lung tissue is lost and replaced with air spaces, giving shortness of breath, and decreased air entry and increased resonance on examination. However, it is usually a chronic condition, and signs are diffuse (not localised as in pneumothorax).
A careful history, physical examination and a chest x-ray will allow the conditions to be differentiated.