Spontaneous pneumothorax in dogs

Spontaneous pneumothorax occurs in dogs without a preceding traumatic incident. The most common cause of the condition in dogs is bullous emphysema. Other causes include bacterial and fungal pneumonia, pulmonary abscess formation; parasitism, and neoplasia. Identification of the underlying lung disease is important because the treatment and outcome may be affected by the cause of the pneumothorax. The general diagnostic workup should include complete blood count, serum profile, dirofilarial examination, fecal flotation and sediment examinations, and routine thoracic radiography. In the study reported here, there was a high incidence of terminal or refractory illness in dogs with noninvasively identifiable lung disease; the outcome of these cases was poor. A presumptive diagnosis of bullous emphysema should be made if the general workup is not diagnostic. For the sake of diagnostic and therapeutic efficacy, we recommend early surgical exploration in dogs with no identifiable lung disease.