Posttraumatic Pleural-Fluid and Blood Eosinophilia
- U. Nanda Kumar, MD;
- Basil Varkey, MD;
- George Mathai, MD
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
Excerpt
THE FIRST case, to our knowledge, of simultaneous pleural-fluid and blood eosinophilia following chest trauma was recently reported by Beekman et al.1 We report a similar case.
Report of a Case A 68-year-old man fell and injured the left side of his chest. Six weeks later he was admitted to the Veterans Hospital, Wood, because of persistent chest pain unrelieved by a combination of aspirin and caffeine (Anacin). Past medical history was unremarkable except for a diagnosis of pharyngoesophageal (Zenker) diverticulum. He had no history of pleurisy or allergies and had been well before the accident.
On examination he was afebrile, but there was swelling and tenderness over the lateral aspect of the left lower chest. Dullness on percussion and diminished breath sounds were noted in the left infrascapular and infra-axillary areas. Chest roentgenogram (Figure) showed blunting of the left costophrenic angle, and decubitus film confirmed the presence of
Footnotes
-
Reprint requests to Veterans Administration Center, 5000 W National Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53193 (Dr Varkey).
