CLINICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND THERAPEUTIC MANAGEMENT OF HIV-RELATED SPONTANEOUS PNEUMOTHORAX - A REPORT OF 9 CASES

Spontaneous pneumothorax in HIV infected patients are mostly due to a sub-pleural necrotizing pneumonitis most often related to Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. From our experience of nine patients and a review of the literature, we describe the clinical characteristics and therap eutic management and confirm the frequent failure of simple chest tube drainage and the high morbidity and mortality rate despite treatment. An aggressive stepped-care management of thoracoscopic talc poudrage as initial therapy should be evaluated.