Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
close window
Housecall Archives
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
close window
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Tests and diagnosis
By Mayo Clinic staffA pneumothorax is generally diagnosed using a chest X-ray. Other tests are sometimes performed, including:
- Computerized tomography (CT) scan. CT is an X-ray technique that produces more-detailed images than conventional X-rays do. This may be done if your doctor suspects a pneumothorax after an abdominal or chest procedure. A CT scan can help determine whether an underlying disease may have caused your lung to collapse — something that may not show up on a regular X-ray.
- Blood tests. These may be used to measure the level of oxygen in your arterial blood.
References
- Pneumothorax. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/print/sec05/ch060/ch060g.html. Accessed Feb. 17, 2009.
- What are pleurisy and other disorders of the pleura? National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/pleurisy/pleurisy_all.html. Accessed Feb. 17, 2009.
- Smith DA. Pulmonary emergencies. In: Stone CK, et al. Current Diagnosis & Treatment: Emergency Medicine. 6th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill; 2008. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=3106264. Accessed Feb. 17, 2009.
- Noppen M, et al. Music: A new cause of primary spontaneous pneumothorax. Thorax. 2004;59:722.
- Light RW. Disorders of the pleura and mediastinum. In: Fauci AS, et al. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. 17th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill Medical; 2008. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=2861952. Accessed Feb. 17, 2009.
- Light RW. Primary spontaneous pneumothorax in adults. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Feb. 17, 2009.
- Spontaneous pneumothorax fact sheet. American Lung Association. http://www.lungusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=35772. Accessed Feb. 17, 2009.
- Rosenow EC (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Feb. 24, 2009.
