07-01-2016, 09:06 PM
Drew Phipps Wrote:Can air in the pleural cavity (which includes the lungs) travel to the mediastinum (which does not) and vice versa, or does the parietal pleura prevent this?
Yes. With damage to the lung typically including a massive and localized rupture of alveoli, built up air pressure in the pleural cavity is able to track back around the outside of blood vessels and the bronchi into the mediastinum. This is assuming, of course, that the parietal pleura is intact, and still maintaining a barrier between the pleural cavity and the mediastinum. A compromise here will also allow air from a pneumothorax to enter the mediastinum.
The build up of air in the mediastinum is referred to as a "pneumomediastinum".
Mr. HILL. The right rear portion of his head was missing. It was lying in the rear seat of the car. His brain was exposed. There was blood and bits of brain all over the entire rear portion of the car. Mrs. Kennedy was completely covered with blood. There was so much blood you could not tell if there had been any other wound or not, except for the one large gaping wound in the right rear portion of the head.
Warren Commission testimony of Secret Service Agent Clinton J. Hill, 1964
Warren Commission testimony of Secret Service Agent Clinton J. Hill, 1964