My 16 year old son has just returned home from the hospital, after having surgery for a repeat Pnemo Thorax in his left lung. The last xray confirms that the proceedure was succesful in fusing the lung back to the chest cavity.

He is what they say is classic case, tall thin male.

Are the odds for the right lung the same as they were prior to this happening? Or is he going to be a much higher risk for this lung to eventually do the same thing.

Dr. Joshua’s Answer:

Research shows that without treatment, risk of recurrence on same side is about 30% and on the other side about 10%.

Sadikot et. al (1997, see below for reference, 153 patients in study) found that significant risk factors for recurrence were 1) male sex 2) height, and 3) failure to cease smoking if previously a smoker.

Recurrence rate was 48% for males in this study, meaning that for every 100 males with a spontaneous pneumothorax, 48 would get a new episode within four years. Out of these, 41 would be on the same side, and 7 on the other side.

Based on all of this, I would estimate your son’s risk of getting a pneumothorax on the right side at 7-10% in the next four years. On the operated (left) side, the risk of recurrence is about 5%.

Reference:

T Sadikot, T Greene, K Meadows, and AG Arnold
Recurrence of primary spontaneous pneumothorax
Thorax, Sep 1997; 52: 805 - 809.

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