Abstract

RAMIREZ, Cristhian Felipe; RAMIREZ, Mónica; MENDEZ, Johan  and  GALINDO-DAVILA, Juan Diego. Hamman's syndrome and anorexia nervosa: case report and literature review. Revista médica Risaralda [online]. 2017, vol.23, n.2, pp.64-69. ISSN 0122-0667.

This is a case report of a severely malnourished young female patient, who met clinical criteria for anorexia nervosa and developed chest pain in whom spontaneous pneumomediastinum (SP) was documented. SP is defined as the presence of free air or any other gas in the mediastinum in the absence of an obvious precipitating cause. The incidence is very low. Spontaneous pneumomediastinum occurs mainly in the pediatric population especially during asthma attacks, is greater in the male. Anorexia is an unusual cause and have been reported only 20 cases in the literature up to now. The main symptom is chest pain, followed by dyspnea and in the physical examination is important to recognize specific signs, of which the most common is the subcutaneous emphysema and Hamman’s sign, considered pathognomonic. This is a clinical entity with a generally benign course. Although it remains controversial in most cases its management is conservative

Keywords : Pneumomediastinum; anorexia nervosa; chest pain; subcutaneous emphysema; Hamman; malnutrition.

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