• Setu Patolia, Mehjabin Zahir, Frances Schmidt, Danilo Enriquez, Joseph Quist, Neerja Gulati, Perwaiz Muhammad, and Dharani Narendra.
• Pulmonary Medicine, Interfaith Medical Center, 1545 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11238, USA. spatolia@interfaithmedical.com
• J Bronchology Interv Pulmonol. 2012 Jan 1;19(1):57-60.

AbstractBronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) are widely accepted diagnostic procedures in various pulmonary etiologies. Complications of bronchoscopy are relatively infrequent and most often minor, namely, bleeding and infection. Pneumothorax is a rare complication of bronchoscopy with transbronchial biopsy. Bilateral pneumothorax developing after BAL without biopsy has been rarely described in the literature. A 51-year-old woman presented with symptoms suggestive of reactive airway syndrome and underwent bronchoscopy with BAL to rule out vocal cord paralysis and to investigate other potential causes of her symptoms. Immediately after BAL, she developed bilateral pneumothorax requiring chest tube placement. The pneumothorax was resolved with the chest tube and the patient recovered. However, the etiology of the pneumothorax remained unclear. We presume that cough-related increase in intrathoracic pressure might have led to interstitial air dissection and bilateral pneumothorax.

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