Pneumothorax associated with long-term non-invasive positive pressure ventilation in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Long-term non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV) is effective for improving the quality of life and survival of neuromuscular patients. This treatment is usually easy to administer and severe complications have rarely been reported. We describe two cases in which the development of pneumothorax was associated with long-term NPPV administered to Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients. Given the wide scale utilization of chronic NPPV, we suggest that care-givers and patients be made aware of this serious complication. Copyright 2004 Elsevier B.V.