{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,21]],"date-time":"2026-07-21T15:20:54Z","timestamp":1784647254097,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":8,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,15]],"date-time":"2025-10-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1760486400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Med."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>Interstitial lung disease (ILD) encompasses a broad spectrum of fibrosing pulmonary conditions. Pneumothorax is a recognized complication of fibrotic ILD, but simultaneous occurrence with subcutaneous emphysema and pneumomediastinum is exceedingly rare.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Case presentation<\/jats:title><jats:p>This case series describes two patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)-pattern ILD who experienced complications from spontaneous pneumothorax. In the first case, the patient arrived at the emergency department with worsening shortness of breath. Imaging revealed the presence of spontaneous pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum, and subcutaneous emphysema. The patient\u2019s condition deteriorated rapidly and ultimately succumbed to respiratory failure. The second case involved a female patient who initially presented with chronic respiratory symptoms and was later diagnosed with probable usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP)-pattern ILD. During the follow-up, she exhibited worsening symptoms and was diagnosed with a spontaneous pneumothorax, which was treated successfully with conservative management.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case series that document the triad of subcutaneous emphysema, pneumomediastinum, and pneumothorax in a patient with fibrotic ILD. The findings underscore the importance of timely recognition and multidisciplinary management for such high-risk patients.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmed.2025.1664024","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,15]],"date-time":"2025-10-15T04:21:54Z","timestamp":1760502114000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Case series: Interstitial lung disease with IPF pattern presenting with spontaneous pneumothorax\u2014clinical course of two patients"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Amit","family":"Toshniwal","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Babaji","family":"Ghewade","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alushika","family":"Jain","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Saket Satyasham","family":"Toshniwal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"179","DOI":"10.1183\/13993003.01653-2015","article-title":"Incidence and prevalence of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in US adults 18\u201364 years old","volume":"48","author":"Raghu","year":"2016","journal-title":"Eur Respir J"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"431","DOI":"10.1164\/rccm.201006-0894CI","article-title":"Clinical course and prediction of survival in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis","volume":"183","author":"Ley","year":"2011","journal-title":"Am J Respir Crit Care Med"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0235624","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0235624","article-title":"Pneumothorax in connective tissue disease-associated interstitial lung disease","volume":"15","author":"Nishimoto","year":"2020","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1393","DOI":"10.21037\/jtd-21-1851","article-title":"Treatment of secondary pneumothorax with interstitial lung disease: the surgical indications at the start of treatment is important","volume":"14","author":"Watanabe","year":"2022","journal-title":"J Thorac Dis"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"79","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rmedc.2010.08.003","article-title":"Pneumomediastinum in interstitial lung disease-a case report","volume":"4","author":"Nadig","year":"2011","journal-title":"Respir Med CME"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"101941","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rmcr.2023.101941","article-title":"Secondary spontaneous pneumothorax in a patient with resistant Mycobacterium abscessus infection and systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease: a case report","volume":"46","author":"Nishizawa","year":"2023","journal-title":"Respir Med Case Rep"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2017703","DOI":"10.1155\/crrh\/2017703","article-title":"Subcutaneous emphysema and severe interstitial lung disease in the setting of anti-MDA 5 positive Dermatomyositis in a Hispanic patient","volume":"2025","author":"Subhadarshani","year":"2025","journal-title":"Case Rep Rheumatol"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"100298","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ejro.2020.100298","article-title":"Pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis-like lesions in patients with interstitial pneumonia diagnosed by multidisciplinary discussion with surgical lung biopsy","volume":"7","author":"Sumikawa","year":"2020","journal-title":"Eur J Radiol Open"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Medicine"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fmed.2025.1664024\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,15]],"date-time":"2025-10-15T04:21:54Z","timestamp":1760502114000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fmed.2025.1664024\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,15]]},"references-count":8,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fmed.2025.1664024"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fmed.2025.1664024","relation":{},"ISSN":["2296-858X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2296-858X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,15]]},"article-number":"1664024"}}