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Collapsed Lung (cont.)

Collapsed Lung Causes

The primary cause of a pneumothorax is trauma to the chest cavity. A fractured rib, for example, could puncture the lung. In addition, penetrating trauma from a bullet, knife, or other sharp object can directly puncture the lung.

Sometimes, very tall, thin people are prone to a spontaneous pneumothorax. In this condition, the lung collapses after minimal or no trauma. Other risk factors are cigarette smoking and recreational drug use or abuse.

Spontaneous pneumothorax

This refers to a condition in which the lung collapses with no apparent injury or trauma.
Abnormal, small, air-filled sacs in the lung called "blebs" typically rupture and leak air into the pleural space, leading to the spontaneous pneumothorax. This happens in the cases of tall and thin people, who because of the shape of their lungs and chest cavity, are seemingly more prone to these defects.
Shortness of breath and sharp, stabbing chest pain develop in apparently healthy people.
Cigarette smokers are at greater risk for spontaneous pneumothorax.
Recreational drug users who inhale deeply and forcefully are also at greater risk.

Traumatic pneumothorax

Direct trauma to the chest wall from either blunt or penetrating trauma causes this condition.
Trauma can also result from diagnostic or therapeutic medical procedures, such as needle aspiration of fluid from the pleural space, a lung biopsy, or insertion of a large IV catheter into a vein near the neck.

Disease-related pneumothorax can occur due to abnormalities in the lung tissue.

A collapsed lung can arise as a complication of the following conditions:
- Asthma
- Cystic fibrosis
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), for example, emphysema or chronic bronchitis
- Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), an opportunistic infection of the lungs often seen in people with AIDS