Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34216606›Full record

ArticleChest2021

The Legend of the Buffalo Chest.

Marielle M J Blacha, Illaa Smesseim, Ivo van der Lee, Joost G van den Aardweg, Marcus J Schultz, Marja L J Kik, Linda van Sonsbeek, Bernadette S de Bakker, Richard W Light

Open access · hybridAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Chest, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 17% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 5 institutions in 4 countries.

Marielle M J BlachaDepartment of Intensive Care, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, AMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Illaa SmesseimDepartment of Respiratory Medicine and Clinical Physiology, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, VU Medical University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: i.smesseim@amsterdamumc.nl.
Ivo van der LeeDepartment of Pulmonary Medicine, Spaarne Gasthuis, Haarlem, The Netherlands.
Joost G van den AardwegDepartment of Respiratory Medicine and Clinical Physiology, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, VU Medical University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Marcus J SchultzDepartment of Intensive Care, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, AMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Laboratory of Experimental Intensive Care and Anesthesiology (L·E·I·C·A), Amsterdam University Medical Centers, AMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU), Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand; Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU), University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Marja L J KikDepartment of Biomedical Health Sciences, Pathology Division, Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Linda van SonsbeekDepartment of Veterinary Medicine, Rotterdam Zoo Blijdorp, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Bernadette S de BakkerDepartment of Medical Biology, Section Clinical Anatomy & Embryology, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, AMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Richard W LightDivision of Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN.
Amsterdam University Medical Centers · NLSpaarne Gasthuis · NLUniversity of Amsterdam · NLUtrecht University · NLVanderbilt University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe "buffalo chest" is a condition in which a simultaneous bilateral pneumothorax occurs due to a communication of both pleural cavities caused by an iatrogenic or idiopathic fenestration of the mediastinum. This rare condition is known by many clinicians because of a particular anecdote which stated that Native Americans could kill a North American bison with a single arrow in the chest by creating a simultaneous bilateral pneumothorax, due to the animal's peculiar anatomy in which there is one contiguous pleural space due to an incomplete mediastinum. RESEARCH QUESTION: What evidence is there for the existence of buffalo chest? STUDY DESIGN AND

methodsThe term "buffalo chest" and its anecdote were first mentioned in a ''personal communication'' by a veterinarian in the Annals of Surgery in 1984. A mixed method research was performed on buffalo chest and its etiology. A total of 47 cases of buffalo chest were identified in humans.

resultsThis study found that all authors were referring to the article from 1984 or to each other. Evidence was found for interpleural communications in other mammal species, but no literature on the anatomy of the mediastinum of the bison was found. The main reason for this research was fact-checking the origin of the anecdote and search for evidence for the existence of buffalo chest. Autopsies were performed on eight bison, and four indeed were found to have had interpleural communications.

interpretationWe hypothesize that humans can also have interpleural fenestrations, which can be diagnosed when a pneumothorax occurs.

Indexed as

Anatomic VariationAnimalsBisonHumansMediastinumPleural CavityPneumothoraxThoracotomybuffalo chestpleural diseasespneumothorax

Identifiers

PMID34216606
PMCPMC8692104
OpenAlexW3174159713

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.