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Ann Thorac Surg 2006;82:384
© 2006 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

Correspondence

What is a Spontaneous Hemothorax?

Dov Weissberg, MD

Department of Thoracic Surgery, Tel Aviv University Sackler School of Medicine, 11 Be'eri St, Rehovot, 76352 Israel

(Email: dovw{at}post.tau.ac.il).

To the Editor:

In their report on hemothorax after cesarean section, Vaughan and colleagues [1] referred to their patient's affliction as spontaneous hemothorax. This expression appears in the title, in the Abstract, and further in the text, so the reader might assume that the authors really meant it.

What does spontaneous mean? According to Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary (definition 2), spontaneous means "coming or resulting from a natural impulse or tendency" [2]. Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary defines spontaneous as "occurring without external influence" [3].

Hemothorax associated with trauma, iatrogenic interventions or, for that matter, hemothorax after cesarean section is never spontaneous. It is caused by trauma or whatever other cause, which goes against its definition as spontaneous.

Medical terminology is important and should be used with precision.


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  1. Vaughan P, Hooper PJ, Duffy JP. Spontaneous hemothorax after cesarean sectionan unusual manifestation of diaphragmatic fenestrations. Ann Thorac Surg 2005;80:1517-1519.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  2. Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary. New York, NY: Barnes & Noble; 1996.
  3. Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary. 28th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders; 1994.

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Paul Vaughan and John P. Duffy
Ann. Thorac. Surg. 2006 82: 384. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]



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Ann. Thorac. Surg., July 1, 2006; 82(1): 384 - 384.
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