PEDIATRICS Vol. 74 No. 3 September 1984, pp. 431-432
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow P3Rs: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when P3Rs are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by STURTZ, G. S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by STURTZ, G. S.

Spontaneous Mediastinal Emphysema

GEORGE S. STURTZ MD, MS(PED)1

1 Department of Pediatrics, Upstate Medical Center, State University of New York, Syracuse

Spontaneous mediastinal emphysema, an apparently uncommon disorder of children, is characterized by precordial pain, unusual crunching sounds heard over the precordium during auscultation, subcutaneous air palpable in the neck, and the presence of mediastinal air on the chest roentgenogram.

CASE REPORT

A 13-year-old male adolescent had worked all afternoon mowing lawns. When his gas-powered mower stalled, he restarted it by pulling the starter cord vigorously and frequently. After the evening meal, he clipped a hedge by hand. Within one hour, he developed severe substernal pain. He had a sense of substernal pressure. He felt "... as if I were going to explode," and thought he was having a heart attack.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Ann. Thorac. Surg.Home page
P. Mihos, K. Potaris, I. Gakidis, E. Mazaris, E. Sarras, and Z. Kontos
Sports-related spontaneous pneumomediastinum
Ann. Thorac. Surg., September 1, 2004; 78(3): 983 - 986.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]