A Case of Pulmonary Fibrosis of Obscure Etiology, with Bilateral Spontaneous Pneumothorax

Abstract

This is a rather unusual case which has considerable interest from the viewpoint of roentgen diagnosis and as a curiosity presenting multiple, bilateral, spontaneous pneumothoraces with absorption and apparent cessation of the latter. The patient, C. S., aged 25 years, enlisted in the Army in March, 1925. For a short time he worked in an open stone quarry. In May, 1925, he began to have diarrhea with from 10 to 20 bloody stools a day, which has continued with slight occasional improvement up to the present. Soon after the onset of the colitis, he began to have pain in the chest, with productive cough and shortness of breath. In addition, he had pain and soreness in the lower abdomen, fever up to 102°, chills, with night sweats, and loss of weight. Later, he developed skin lesions which were shallow, indolent ulcers with much itching and secondary infection due to scratching. The patient was treated in the local station hospital before being sent to Walter Reed General Hospital for study and treatment. Exa...