Aluminium and primary spontaneous pneumothorax. A suggestive but unconfirmed hypothesis.

A prospective case-control study was designed to confirm the higher plasma concentration of aluminium in primary spontaneous pneumothorax patients recently reported in literature. Ten consecutive patients with PSP entered the study. Comparison with the control group obtained from the database of the Pharmacology Department did not show any significant difference. The conclusion was that in patients with PSP from the Maritime Alps region aluminium concentration was not abnormal. Therefore, the study was stopped.