pneumatocele

1. An emphysematous or gaseous swelling. 2. SYN: pneumonocele. 3. A thin-walled cavity within the lung, one of the characteristic sequelae of staphylococcus pneumonia and Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. [G. pneuma, air, + kele, tumor, hernia]

- extracranial p. collection of gas beneath the galea aponeurotica, usually due to fracture into the paranasal sinuses. SYN: extracranial pneumocele.

- intracranial p. a collection of gas within the skull, in the brain, or in the meninges. SYN: intracranial pneumocele.

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pneu·ma·to·cele 'n(y)ü-mət-ō-.sēl, n(y)u̇-'mat-ə- n a gas-filled cavity or sac occurring esp. in the lung

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n.

herniation of lung tissue. See hernia.

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pneu·ma·to·cele (noo-matґo-sēl) [pneumato- + -cele¹] 1. a tumor or cyst formed by air or other gas filling an adventitious pouch, such as a laryngocele, tracheocele, or gaseous swelling of the scrotum. Called also aerocele and pneumocele. 2. a usually benign, thin-walled, air-containing cyst of the lung, as in staphylococcal pneumonia. Called also pneumocele and pneumonocele.

Pneumatocele in the upper left lobe of a patient with staphylococcal pneumonia.