Thoracic Imaging Archive

Archived case 200 · April 6-April 13, 2016

Case of the week

You are shown 3 sequential AP portable chest radiographs of a 21-year-old woman that developed severe laryngospasm following extubation necessitating reintubatation. Baseline chest radiograph (Fig. 1-A) obtained 6 hours before extubation. Follow-up chest radiography (Fig. 1-B) acquired 20 minutes following the onset of post-extubation laryngospasm. Subsequent chest radiograph (Fig. 1-C) obtained 30 minutes following reintubatation.

The question posed to readers

Based on the clinical scenario and the serial chest radiographic findings, what is the MOST likely diagnosis?

Images

Radiograph 1 from archived case 200
Figure 1
Radiograph 2 from archived case 200
Figure 2
Radiograph 3 from archived case 200
Figure 3

Imaging findings

Answer Diagnosis:

Answer

Diagnosis:

The answer to this case was not published in the collection before it went offline; what survives is the history, the question and the images above.

Original case written by its authors at Virginia Commonwealth University and published at this address as part of a weekly teaching collection. Reproduced here as an archive.

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