Masteller Michael A, Chauhan Aakash, Musunuru Harsha, Walsh Mark M, Boyer Bryan, Prahlow Joseph A
Indiana University School of Medicine, South Bend Campus, South Bend, IN 46556, USA.
Case Rep Radiol. 2012;2012:162064. doi: 10.1155/2012/162064. Epub 2012 Sep 2.
Both osteoporotic fractures and pleural effusions are frequently observed in medicine. However, rarely does one associate a hemorrhagic pleural effusion with a thoracic spinal fracture when the patient has not sustained massive trauma. In this paper, we discuss two cases where seemingly insignificant low-energy trauma precipitated massive haemothoraces in elderly patients with underlying osteoporosis, ultimately resulting in their immediate causes of death. This paper serves to remind health care professionals of the importance of using caution when moving elderly patients as well as to consider thoracic spinal fracture as a potential explanation for a hemorrhagic pleural effusion of undetermined etiology.
骨质疏松性骨折和胸腔积液在医学上都很常见。然而，当患者没有遭受严重创伤时，很少有人会将出血性胸腔积液与胸椎骨折联系起来。在本文中，我们讨论了两例看似微不足道的低能量创伤导致患有潜在骨质疏松症的老年患者出现大量血胸的病例，最终这成为了他们的直接死因。本文旨在提醒医护人员在移动老年患者时要谨慎，并考虑胸椎骨折是病因不明的出血性胸腔积液的一种潜在解释。
