Recurrence of Primary Spontaneous Pneumothorax: Rate and Risk Factors

Objectives: To study the recurrence rate of primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) in our practice and to identify the factors that influence it Design: Retrospective data analysis Setting: Chest Diseases Hospital, Kuwait Subjects: Two hundred and eight patients with PSP Intervention: Observation or tube thoracostomy Main Outcome Measures: Recurrence of PSP with reference to the following factors: age, sex, height, BMI, smoking status, and type of primary treatment Results: Recurrence of PSP occurred in 72 patients with a recurrence rate of 34.6 percent. The majority of recurrences occurred in the first year - 45 out of 72 (62.5%). PSP was eleven times more common in men than in women. Female sex was associated with higher recurrence rate. Ten out of 17 (58.8%) females had recurrence whereas 62 out of 191 (32.5%) males had recurrence (p = 0.02). The recurrence rate in patients who continued to smoke and those who stopped smoking was 53/144 (36.8%) and 2/18 (11%) respectively (p = 0.03). However, no association could be demonstrated between recurrence rate and age, height, BMI and type of treatment. Conclusion: Female sex and smoking behavior are significant prognostic factors for future recurrences of PSP