Pneumomediastinum- A Rare Benign Entity

A 20-year-old male presented with mildacute exacerbation of bronchial asthma withretrosternal chest pain. On examination,apart from bilateral polyphonic wheezing,the patient had subcutaneous emphysemain the supraclavicular region and Hamman’ssign on auscultation. The suspicion ofpneumomediastinum was confirmed bychest X-ray and computerized tomographyscan (CT scan) of thorax. Patient made anuneventful recovery.Spontaneous pneumomediastinum shouldbe suspected in young patients with ahistory of asthma presenting with chest pain.In most cases, the outcome is benign, butrarely, it can be life threatening that mightrequire surgical intervention.