Indicators of occult pneumothorax in thoracic trauma: a retrospective descriptive study

Abstract

The term occult pneumothorax (OPTX) is used for the pneumothorax that is not visualized with the aid of CXR, but detected via computed tomography (CT). It is a radiological diagnosis increasingly recognized following the extensive use of CT. The radiological investigation of the cases with thoracic trauma in a supine or seated position may also lead to this false diagnosis. It may be diagnosed by investigations of abdominal, cervical, and most commonly thoracic CT that were applied to patients with multiple traumas in order to evaluate all sites of injury.1‒3