Occult pneumopericardium after isolated blunt chest trauma

Abstract

A 57-year-old man was admitted to our hospital after a 5-metre fall. He complained of chest pain and shortness of breath. Breath sounds over the left-hemithorax were weak; no heart murmur was heard. Tachypnoea (25 breaths/min), tachycardia (95 beats/min), hypotension (110/60 mm Hg) and hypoxia (88% SpO2) were noted. Multislice CT revealed an isolated blunt chest injury (BCI) with pneumopericardium (air within the pericardial cavity) (figure 1), which was not initially identified on radiographs and was defined as an occult injury.1 A …