A Case of Mediastinal Emphysema Having Occurred during Basketball Practice

Abstract

A 17-year-old male was admitted to hospital because of increasing anterior chest oppression which had suddenly appeared 10 hours before during a hard basketball practice. He had no obvious history of falling down or being crushed during the practice. Physical findings were subcutaneous emphysema and pericardial crackles. Chest X-ray revealed mediastinal emphysema and subcutaneous emphysema. Bronchoscopy revealed a small hole which changed its size and shape on respiration at the right main bronchus between the second and third cartilage ring below the carina. Summarizing the clinical course, his mediastinal and subcutaneous emphysema were considered to be caused by bronchial perforation. He was treated conservatively and recurrence has not occurred. Bronchoscopy performed 3 months after showed that the small hole in the right main bronchus had almost disappeared. This finding supported the idea that the small hole in this case was different from an accessory cardiac bronchus.