Journal of Clinical and Experimental Investigations

Abstract

Objectives: Early diagnosis and treatment is essential in reducing mortality in newborns with pneumothorax. In this study, newborns with a diagnosis of pneumothorax in neonatal intensive care unit of our hospital were evaluated and aimed to increase the awareness of physicians.
Methods: 12 cases with pneumothorax were evaluated retrospectively. The gender, birth weight, gestational age, mode of delivery, the presence of underlying disease, pneumothorax localization, implementation of the surfactant and mechanical ventilation and existence or absence of mortality were recorded.
Results: During the study, pneumothorax was detected 12 patients. Male/female ratio was 1.4. Eight of the patients had born with cesarean delivery, the mean birth weight of cases was 2623±912 g and, 66.7% of cases were term babies. Pneumothorax was observed in the first week of life in all patients and it occurred spontaneously in 4 patients. The frequency of bilateral pneumothorax was 41.7%. For the treatment, closed tube drainage was performed in 9 patients. The overall mortality rate was 66.7%. Half of the patients who died had congenital anomalies such as diaphragmatic eventration (n=1), hydrocephalus (n=1), encephalocel (n=1), non-immune hydrops fetalis (n=1).
Conclusion: Additional congenital anomalies, such as PDAs and persistent pulmonary hypertension were found to be effective on mortality in neonates with pneumothorax. Although, it is a life-threatening condition, the emergency treatment is life saving. Therefore, in patients with risk factors, keeping pneumothorax in mind is also the first step of the treatment.