Counseling After Primary Spontaneous Pneumothorax: Opportunities to Reduce Recurrence Risk

A 44-year-old healthy male smoker presented with acute-onset sharp, left-sided chest pain and mild dyspnea worsened by movement or deep inspiration. He denied prior episodes, history of trauma, cough, palpitations, nausea, vomiting, or constitutional symptoms. He is a current smoker with a 20-25 pack-year history. He has a comparably long history of crack cocaine inhalation (no intravenous use) and alcohol use, which he attributes to childhood exposure to drugs and violence, but had been abstinent for 2 months prior to presentation.