2Department of Pediatric Endocrinology, Ege University, School of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey DOI : 10.26663/cts.2019.0004 Viewed : 3696 - Downloaded : 1526 Background: Although the etiology of primer spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) is not exactly understood, it has been suggested to be associated with rupture of bulla/bleb formations at the lung apices in thin, tall, young adults. In this study, we aim to evaluate whether delayed puberty is a new etiological factor for PSP.
Materials and Methods: A total of 91 patients who were treated for PSP in our clinic between January 2013 and September 2016 and who were scheduled for a follow-up visit by phone call and underwent pubertal-stage assessment were retrospectively analyzed.
Results: Of all patients, 10 (12.1%) were females and 81 (87.9%) were males. The mean age was 25.90 ± 6.83 (range, 17 to 38) years and the mean height was 178.90 ± 7.6 (range, 161 to 197) cm. The mean age at menarche of female patients was 14.20 ± 1.31 (range, 12 to 17) years. The women had a late age at menarche compared to the overall Turkish female population (p < 0.0001). The mean age for the development of facial hairs in the men was 16.63 ± 1.69 (range, 13 to 22) years, showing a later age, compared to the overall Turkish male population (p < 0.0001).
Conclusion: Our study results showed that the patients with pneumothorax had an advanced age at puberty, compared to the normal overall population, and that the pubertal growth spurt occurred within a short period of time. This condition is also suggested to have an effect on the lung maturity and the development of pneumothorax.
Keywords : primer spontaneous pneumothorax, pubertal growth, lung maturity