Rivero Antonio, Perez-Camacho Inés, Lozano Fernando, Santos Jesús, Camacho Angela, Serrano Ascención, Cordero Elisa, Jiménez Francisco, Torres-Tortosa Manuel, Torre-Cisneros Julián
Reina Sofía University Hospital, Cordoba, Spain.
Eur J Radiol. 2009 Aug;71(2):264-8. doi: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2008.05.003. Epub 2008 Jun 20.
Spontaneous pneumothorax (SP) is a frequent complication in non-treated HIV-infected patients as a complication of opportunistic infections and tumours.
To analyse the aetiology of SP in non-treated HIV patients.
Observational study of SP cases observed in a cohort of 9831 of non-treated HIV-infected patients attended in seven Spanish hospitals.
105 patients (1.06%) developed SP. The aetiological cause was identified in 89 patients. The major causes identified were: bacterial pneumonia (36 subjects, 34.3%); Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (PJP) (31 patients, 29.5%); and pulmonary tuberculosis (17 cases, 15.2%). The most common cause of SP in drugs users was bacterial pneumonia (40%), whereas PJP was more common (65%) in sexual transmitted HIV-patients. The most common cause of bilateral SP was PJP (62.5%) whereas unilateral SP was most commonly associated with bacterial pneumonia (40.2%). The most common cause of SP in patients with a CD4+ lymphocyte count >200 cells/ml and in patients without AIDS criteria was bacterial pneumonia. PJP was the more common cause in patients with a CD4+ lymphocyte count <200 cells/ml or with AIDS.
The incidence of SP in non-treated HIV-infected patients was 1.06%. The aetiology was related to the patients risk practices and to their degree of immunosuppression. Bacterial pneumonia was the most common cause of SP.
