Mediastinal Emphysema After a Sax Orgy

Saxophone players lead hazardous lives, if this one is typical:

“Mediastinal Emphysema After a Sax Orgy,” Richard W. Snyder, Henry S. Mishel, and G. Chris Christensen, New England Journal of Medicine,  vol. 123, 1990; pp. 758-759. The authors, at Abington Pulmonary Associates, Ltd., Abington, Pennsylvania, report:

“We recently cared for a 24-year-old man admitted to the emergency room with symptoms of substernal chest discomfort, breathlessness, difficulty swallowing, and change in speech. The patient stated that he had been well until the evening before admission, when he first noticed these symptoms after three hours of vigorous saxophone playing.”

(Thanks to Gunter Kreutz for bringing this to our attention.)

BONUS (related): Video of a military examination of a doctor who has many saxophones: