Hamman's syndrome and sign

Hamman's syndrome is a syndrome of spontaneous subcutaneous emphysema (air in the subcutaneous tissues of the skin) and pneumomediastinum (air in the mediastinum, the center of the chest cavity), sometimes associated with pain.
Hamman's syndrome can cause Hamman's sign.
The syndrome is caused by alveolar rupture and can be seen post partum.
It most commonly occurs in young women.

A CT scan showing air in the mediastinum with subcutaneous emphysema, which can result in Hamman's syndrome.


Hamman's sign (rarely, Hammond's sign or Hammond's crunch) is a crunching, rasping sound, synchronous with the heartbeat, heard over the precordium in spontaneous mediastinal emphysema produced by the heart beating against air-filled tissues.
 It has been described as a series of precordial crackles that correlate with the heart beat and not the respirations.

Hamman's crunch is caused by pneumomediastinum or pneumopericardium, and is associated with tracheobronchial injury due to trauma, medical procedures (e.g., bronchoscopy) or proximal pulmonary bleb rupture. It is commonly seen in Boerhaave syndrome.(also here there is Mackler triad)




source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamman's_sign
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamman%27s_syndrome