Pneumothorax

Pneumothorax with Lung Point | Beth Patterson MD | Bronx, NY

Clip 1: R lung, + lung point, which is very specific for pneumothorax. What you’re seeing is the border of the pneumothorax.

Clip 1: R lung, + lung point, which is very specific for pneumothorax. What you’re seeing is the border of the pneumothorax.

Clip 2: L lung, + lung sliding. No pneumothorax.

Clip 2: L lung, + lung sliding. No pneumothorax.

A young M presented with right sided chest pain after a fall. He was hypoxic, with an oxygen saturation in the low 90s on room air. BP was normal.

POCUS thoracic on the right (Clip 1) is positive. There is a lung point, highly specific for pneumothorax. The exam on the left (Clip 2) is normal. There is ‘lung sliding,’ the shimmering seen where the visceral and parietal pleural move against each other, signifying no pneumothorax in this location.

A chest radiograph also showed a right sided pneumothorax. A chest tube was placed and the patient did well.

POCUS Pearls: A lung point if very specific for pneumothorax. However, two potential false positives to be aware of are the heart if scanning the L anterior chest and the diaphragm if scanning out inferiorly and laterally.