Pneumothorax differential diagnosis

Complete Differential Diagnosis of Underlying Causes of Pneumothorax
Causes
 * Acupuncture
 * Bacterial pneumonia with abscess
 * Barotrauma
 * Blunt trauma
 * Bronchial asthma
 * Cancer
 * Catamenial pneumothorax (due to endometriosis in the chest cavity)
 * Central bronchial carcinoma
 * Coccidiomycosis
 * Cystic Fibrosis
 * Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome
 * Emphysema
 * Eosinophilic Granuloma
 * Hydatid lung disease
 * Lung emphysema
 * Marfan's Syndrome
 * Mechanical ventilation
 * Medastinal emphysema
 * Paragonimiasis
 * Positive end expiratory pressure or PEEP
 * Pneumoconiosis
 * Penetrating trauma
 * Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia
 * Pseudoxanthoma elasticum
 * Primary spontaneous pneumothorax
 * Pulmonary lymphangiomatoid granulomatosis
 * Pulmonary hemosiderosis
 * Rheumatoid lung disease
 * Rupture of cysts
 * Sarcoidosis
 * Spontaneously (most commonly in tall slim young males and in Marfan syndrome)
 * Sudden chest compression
 * Tuberculosis

Differential Diagnosis of Conditions that Pneumothorax must be Distinguished From

 * Acute Myocardial Infarction: presents with shortness of breath and chest pain, though MI chest pain is characteristically crushing, central and radiating to the jaw, left arm or stomach.  While not a lung condition, patients having an MI often happen to also have lung disease.
 * Emphysema: here, delicate functional lung tissue is lost and replaced with air spaces, giving shortness of breath, and decreased air entry and increased resonance on examination.  However, it is usually a chronic condition, and signs are diffuse (not localised as in pneumothorax).

A careful history, physical examination and a chest x-ray will allow the conditions to be differentiated.