Spontaneous bilateral pneumothorax in a newborn

Aims: Unilateral spontaneous pneumothorax is one of the common causes for respiratory distress syndrome in the newborn period. Methods: We report spontaneous bilateral pneumothorax in a female term newborn. Results: The baby girl was delivered by secondary caesarean section due prolonged labour at 41 weeks of gestation. Apgar scores were 7/8/8 with umbilical cord pH of 7.10. On physical examination the baby showed grunting, dyspnoea, tachypnoea of 70–80 bm and tachycardia of 180 pm. Transcutaneous oxygen saturation, arterial pO₂ and pCO₂ were within the normal limits. On chest x-ray bilateral pneumothorax without tension was demonstrated. Therefore no thoracic drainage was indicated. On oxygen therapy with FiO₂ 0.25 the child' s respiratory distress and pneumothoraces resolved within 6 days documented by control chest x-ray. No underlying pathology such as meconium aspiration, congenital pulmonary abnormalities, traumatic labour, vigorous postnatal reanimation with manual ventilation, and so on could be found. Conclusion: After review of literature, this is the second reported case of bilateral spontaneous pneumonthorax as cause of respiratory distress in the newborn period.