Clearing the air around spontaneous pneumorrhachis

Abstract

We present a case of spontaneous pneumorrhachis associated with minimal pneumomediastinum from a tertiary care cancer hospital in Mumbai. A 16-year-old boy who was a case of Hodgkin lymphoma undergoing chemotherapy presented to the physician with complaints of cough associated with white-colored sputum and chest pain. Computed tomography of the chest done to rule out infection revealed pneumorrhachis, that is, air lurking in the spinal canal. Radiological and laboratory investigations were done to rule out crucial and life-threatening differentials. The patient was kept on observation, and finally, we figuratively cleared the air around the finding of “air in the spinal cord.” This is the first reported case in the literature of pneumorrachis in a patient with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.