Pneumothorax is classified as spontaneous (not caused by trauma or any obvious precipitating factor), traumatic, or iatrogenic (Table 1). Primary spontaneous pneumothorax occurs in persons without clinically apparent lung disease; secondary spontaneous pneumothorax is a complication of preexisting lung disease. Iatrogenic pneumothorax results from a complication of a diagnostic or therapeutic intervention. Traumatic pneumothorax is caused by penetrating or blunt trauma to the chest, with air entering the pleural space directly through the chest wall; visceral pleural penetration; or alveolar rupture due to sudden compression of the chest. In this review we focus on spontaneous pneumothorax.

Primary Spontaneous Pneumothorax

Epidemiology . . .