TOPIC: Critical Care TYPE: Medical Student/Resident Case Reports INTRODUCTION: Pneumopericardium, or air in the pericardial space, most often results from associated trauma. Less commonly, it is with disease processes contiguous organs. Rare cases of tension pyopneumopericardium have been described (1). CASE PRESENTATION: A 57-year-old female a history an enlarging cavitary lung lesion unknown ...

Pneumopericardium is defined by the presence of air in the pericardial cavity. It is a rare entity occurring most commonly after trauma. Pneumopericardium resulting after pericardiocentesis is even rarer. We report a case of 46-year-old man, with end-stage renal disease on chronic hemodialysis and who developed a large circumferential pericardial effusion of 40 mm in diastole with swinging hear...

Spontaneous pneumothorax occurs in up to 35% of patients with Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia. However, spontaneous pneumomediastinum and pneumopericardium are uncommon complications in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus, with no reported incidence rates, even among patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and P. jirovecii pneumonia. We report a case of spontane...

This is an uncommon case of a patient who developed pneumopericardium while being treated with face-mask continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) for hypoxic respiratory failure following a coronary artery bypass graft surgery. A pneumopericardium detected by chest radiograph resolved completely after discontinuation of face-mask CPAP. Possible mechanisms that may have been involved in this u...

The coexistence of pneumothorax and pneumopericardium in patients with primary lung cancer is a very rare phenomenon. We report one such case, in which squamous cell carcinoma of the lung was complicated by pneumopericardium and pneumothorax. Several explanations of the mechanisms involved will be discussed.

Pneumomediastinum and pneumopericardium following blunt chest trauma are rare. Diagnosis is by chest radiograph and CT Scan. They have to be identified and treated accordingly. Usually, pneumomediastinum and pneumopericardium are self-limiting requiring no specific therapy. However, vigilance and a continuous monitoring of the vital signs are necessary.

Air-leak syndromes include pneumomediastinum, pneumothorax, pneumopericardium, pneumoperitoneum, pulmonary interstitial emphysema and subcutaneous emphysema. Pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum occur in 1 to 2% of normal neonates and they usually has no symptoms and resolves spontaneously. Here we report sudden fatal pneumomediastinum accompanied with pneumopericardium and pneumoperitoneum in no...

We report a case of a preterm neonate with isolated spontaneous pneumopericardium occurring in the absence of a history of neonatal resuscitation, mechanical ventilation, major lung disease or another air leak. The pneumopericardium was asymptomatic and resolved without the need for aspiration, although the "nitrogen washout" technique was used.