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Tension pneumocephalus: a case report with review of literature

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Abstract

Tension Pneumocephalus (PC) was described 50 years ago. A case of pneumocephalus (PC) following cervical epidural injection in a 50-year-old male worsened by air travel and manifested as tension pneumocephalus, confirmed by advanced neuroimaging, is reported for the first time along with literature review. The patient underwent emergent frontal burr hole evacuation and air gushed under pressure. The patient recovered well and is stable during a follow-up of 12 months. Presenting features and clinical course along with Mount Fuji sign, Peaking sign, and air bubble sign observed in this case are described. Also, the importance of considering neurosurgical and spinal procedures leading to PC have to be considered by practitioners before issuing fitness certificate before air travel, as PC is likely to get transformed to tension PC and can cause an in-flight emergency.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Emergency Medicine, Sri Gokulam Hospitals and Research Institute, Salem, Tamil Nadu, India

    Shah Sweni, Subramanian Senthilkumaran & Namasivayam Balamurugan

  2. Department of Medicine, Chennai Medical College Hospital and Research Center, Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India

    Ponniah Thirumalaikolundusubramanian

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  1. Shah Sweni
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  2. Subramanian Senthilkumaran
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  3. Namasivayam Balamurugan
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  4. Ponniah Thirumalaikolundusubramanian
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Correspondence to Shah Sweni.

Additional information

This article was presented as a poster at the “Annual BIR Trainee meeting: The future of radiology in the NHS,” London, in November 2012, and received second prize.

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Sweni, S., Senthilkumaran, S., Balamurugan, N. et al. Tension pneumocephalus: a case report with review of literature. Emerg Radiol 20, 573–578 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10140-013-1135-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10140-013-1135-7

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