Adolescents with inspiratory chest pain should be on high alert for diseases such as pleurisy and pneumothorax, especially tuberculous pleurisy.
Youths with suspicious symptoms of TB such as cough, coughing sputum lasting for more than 2 weeks and haemoptysis, followed by low afternoon fever, malaise, night sweats, irregular menstruation or amenorrhoea, a history of TB contact or extrapulmonary TB should be highly alert for TB pleurisy. In contrast, chest pain associated with altered respiratory dynamics after trauma should be noted as being due to pneumothorax. Therefore, chest pain after deep inspiration should be a high alert for tuberculous pleurisy and pneumothorax in the adolescent population.