Pleurectomy decortication for mesothelioma: The procedure of choice when possible

Extrapleural pneumonectomy or pleurectomy/decortication for malignant pleural mesothelioma

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is associated with a very poor prognosis. Unlike other solid tumors, any type of planned surgery for MPM would be cytoreductive rather than radical. There are two types of surgery for MPM. Extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) involves en bloc resection of the lung, pleura, pericardium, and diaphragm. Pleurectomy/decortication (P/D) is a lung-sparing surgery that...

Clinical Pearls in Anaesthesia for Pleurectomy/Decortication for Malignant Mesothelioma

Surgical treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma: extrapleural pneumonectomy, pleurectomy/decortication or extended pleurectomy?

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an asbestos-related disease with a dismal prognosis. Ethic, social, legal and economic parameters are implicated in its management. It is quite clear that multimodality therapy is necessary to improve long-term results but precise treatment schemes have not yet been equivocally accepted. The extent of surgery is questioned and radical operations are highl...

The role of video assisted thoracoscopic pleurectomy/decortication in the therapeutic management of malignant pleural mesothelioma.

OBJECTIVE Extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) has high mortality and morbidity; radical pleurectomy decortication (P/D) carries less mortality but still significant morbidity. This surgery is not suitable for many patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) for whom video assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) offers a minimally invasive alternative. We aimed to assess the role of VATS decorticat...

Pleurectomy/decortication for palliation in malignant pleural mesothelioma: results of surgery.

OBJECTIVE Surgery can only offer palliation in an attempt to slow the progression of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). We want to assess the effectiveness and safety of pleurectomy/decortication in establishing a tissue diagnosis, and controlling pleural fluid accumulation and symptoms in patients with MPM. METHODS We reviewed our pleurectomy results in 100 patients with MPM over a 19 yea...