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hemothorax
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hemothorax

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Also known as Haemothorax

A hemothorax (derived from hemo- [blood] + thorax [chest], plural hemothoraces) is an accumulation of blood within the pleural cavity. The symptoms of a hemothorax may include chest pain and difficulty breathing, while the clinical signs may include reduced breath sounds on the affected side and a rapid heart rate. Hemothoraces are usually caused by an injury, but they may occur spontaneously due to cancer invading the pleural cavity, as a result of a blood clotting disorder, as an unusual manifestation of endometriosis, in response to pneumothorax, or rarely in association with other conditio

Key facts

Medical condition (new).name
Hemothorax
Medical condition (new).synonyms
HaemothoraxHæmothoraxHaemorrhagic pleural effusion
Medical condition (new).image
PMC2567296 1757-1626-1-225-2.png
Medical condition (new).caption
Chest X-ray showing left sided hemothorax (arrowed)
Medical condition (new).specialty
Pulmonology
Medical condition (new).symptoms
Chest painDifficulty breathing
Medical condition (new).types
TraumaticSpontaneous
Medical condition (new).causes
TraumaCancerEndometriosis
Medical condition (new).diagnosis
Chest X-rayUltrasoundCT scanMRIThoracentesis
Medical condition (new).treatment
Tube thoracostomyThoracotomyFibrinolytic therapy
Medical condition (new).prognosis
Favorable with treatment
Medical condition (new).complications
EmpyemaFibrothorax
Medical condition (new).frequency
300,000 cases in the US per year
Medical condition (new).medication
StreptokinaseUrokinase

via Wikipedia infobox

Research

6,822 papers

via PubMed

Wikidata facts

Image
Hémothorax.jpg
Show 3 more facts
Commons category
Hemothorax
NCI Thesaurus ID
C50582
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via Wikidata · CC0

~25 min read

Article

24 sections
Contents
  • Background
  • Signs and symptoms
  • Causes
  • Traumatic
  • Iatrogenic
  • Nontraumatic
  • Vascular
  • Catamenial
  • Mechanism
  • Diagnosis
  • Chest X-ray
  • Other methods
  • Thoracentesis
  • Treatment
  • Thoracostomy
  • Surgery
  • Other
  • Prognosis
  • Complications
  • Epidemiology
  • Other animals
  • Horses
  • References
  • External links

A hemothorax (derived from hemo- [blood] + thorax [chest], plural hemothoraces) is an accumulation of blood within the pleural cavity. The symptoms of a hemothorax may include chest pain and difficulty breathing, while the clinical signs may include reduced breath sounds on the affected side and a rapid heart rate. Hemothoraces are usually caused by an injury, but they may occur spontaneously due to cancer invading the pleural cavity, as a result of a blood clotting disorder, as an unusual manifestation of endometriosis, in response to pneumothorax, or rarely in association with other conditions.

Hemothoraces are usually diagnosed using a chest X-ray, but they can be identified using other forms of imaging including ultrasound, a CT scan, or an MRI. They can be differentiated from other forms of fluid within the pleural cavity by analysing a sample of the fluid, and are defined as having a hematocrit of greater than 50% that of the person's blood. Hemothoraces may be treated by draining the blood using a chest tube. Surgery may be required if the bleeding continues. If treated, the prognosis is usually good. Complications of a hemothorax include infection within the pleural cavity and the formation of scar tissue.

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