Karaoke enthusiast hospitalised with a collapsed lung after singing high notes

A man in China who sang 10 high-pitched karaoke songs in a row was admitted to a hospital with a collapse lung.

The karaoke enthusiast is a 65-year-old with the surname Wang as reported by the South China Morning Post.

Based on the report, the man is from Nanchang County in Jiangxi Province.

Wang described the injury after his hospitalisation: “I was very excited in the heat of the moment and after singing a few songs with very high notes, I found myself having breathing difficulties.”

Wang said he initially felt pain in his left lung.

He ignored the issue at first but when it became serious, he was taken to a local hospital about 24 hours later.

Doctors discovered the collapsed organ.

South China Morning Post sourced the man’s comments from an interview he gave to PearVideo, a video platform in China hosting viral content that is then licensed out to media outlets.

The clip attracted millions of views on Weibo, a social media platform that’s popular in the country.

Citing the PearVideo footage, the newspaper reported that a doctor named Peng Bin-fei reported the injury could have been life-threatening, noting it had likely been caused by “singing high notes.”

The doctor advised against taking part in karaoke sessions lasting more than two hours at a time.

It was not reported which songs that Wang had been singing.

Non-profit medical research organisation Mayo Clinic said the technical name for a collapsed lung is a pneumothorax.

Sudden chest pain and shortness of breath are the symptoms.

“A pneumothorax occurs when air leaks into the space between your lung and chest wall. This air pushes on the outside of your lung and makes it collapse,” an online fact sheet explains.

“A pneumothorax can be caused by a blunt or penetrating chest injury, medical procedures, or damage from underlying lung disease. Or it may occur for no obvious reason.

The clinic website adds: “On some occasions, a collapsed lung can be a life-threatening event. Treatment for a pneumothorax usually involves inserting a needle or chest tube between the ribs to remove the excess air. However, a small pneumothorax may heal on its own.”