Pneumothorax After a Fall in a Healthy Adolescent Athlete.

A pneumothorax is a pathological collection of air in the pleural space within the thoracic cavity. Pneumothoraxes are classified by the underlying etiology as spontaneous or traumatic, with spontaneous pneumothoraxes being further categorized into primary and secondary causes. Management historically involved admission with possible administration of oxygen or chest tube placements based on severity. We herein describe a pediatric -case of a likely blunt-force traumatic pneumothorax after a fall, successfully managed conservatively in the outpatient setting. The case highlights an acceleration-deceleration blunt trauma caused during a tackle at a football game and the importance of the clinical presentation, physical exam, and confirmation with a chest X-ray.

Synthesis of functional and boronic acid-containing aliphatic polyesters via Suzuki coupling.

Imparting additional functionalities along the side chains of polyesters remains a challenge due to the laborious nature of monomer synthesis and limited polymer functionalization methods for polyesters. To address this challenge, a carbon-carbon bond forming reaction was studied to introduce pendent functional groups in polylactides. This functionalization approach was applied for preparing boronic acid-containing polylactides, an unexplored class of polymers.