Collapsed Lung

This is a topic that is close to me. I think the reason it is trendy is because the Law and Order actress, Mariska Hargitay, suffered a collapsed lung. Now, what struck me as odd was that they included the fact she would continue to film this season.

See, of course she would. Either because she would get the lung re-inflated or just live with it, which would not be smart, by the way.

Collapsed lungs, or pneumothoracies, arise generally when air somehow escapes the lung via a hole and then it leaks into the chest cavity, and since it has nowhere to go, just sits there and takes up space, while not allowing the lung to inflate all the way. It can be removed via chest tube, which is stuck through a small incision in the chest wall near the ribs, and then sucks the air out.