Acute Medicine | Breathlessness 10 knowledge A

Causes and Risk Factors for Primary and Secondary Pneumothorax
Session Overview
Description
This session revises the causes and risk factors for primary and secondary pneumothorax.

Learning Objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to:

• Describe the aetiology and risk factors for the development of primary and secondary pneumothorax

Pneumothorax is defined as the presence of air in the pleural cavity. It is a significant global heath problem with a reported incidence of 18-28 or 100 000 cases per annum for men and 1.2-6 or 100 000 for women [1].

The division between primary and secondary forms is based on the presence or absence of underlying lung disease.