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A scary chest X-ray
  1. Cameron K M W Schauer1,
  2. Caitlin M Prendergast2,
  3. Matlawene J Mpe1
  1. 1 Department of General Medicine, Whangarei Hospital, Whangarei, New Zealand
  2. 2 Whangarei Base Hospital, Whangarei, New Zealand
  1. Correspondence to Dr Caitlin M Prendergast, Whangarei Base Hospital, Private Bag 9742, Whangarei 0148, New Zealand; Caitlin.Prendergast{at}northlanddhb.org.nz

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Clinical introduction

A 50-year-old construction worker presented to our Emergency Department with a 24 h onset of respiratory distress. His medical history was most significant for a 15 pack-year tobacco smoking history and social marijuana use. The patient was only able to speak in short sentences and confirmed a 24 h history of productive cough, fevers and malaise. Examination showed saturations of 92% on a 15 L non-rebreathing Hudson mask. The trachea was midline and neck veins non-distended. He had hyper-resonance to percussion and corresponding decreased air entry over his entire right lung field and also the upper half of his left lung field.

Chest radiograph …

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Footnotes

  • Contributors CKMWS is the first author, assessed the patient in ED and planned the article. CMP assisted CKMWS in writing the article and is the corresponding author. MJM was responsible for the management of the patient and proof-read the article.

  • Competing interests None declared.

  • Patient consent Obtained.

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.