Should central venous catheters be used to drain pleural effusions? Authors' response

We would like to thank MacDuff and Grant [1], as well as the many others who accessed it, for their interest in our article [2] on using central venous catheters for pleural drainage. We started using this technique about 5 years ago with the aim of achieving better patient comfort without compromising on adequate pleural drainage. We did not at that time have access to the specific chest drainage systems mentioned by MacDuff and Grant. While we agree that the central venous catheters we describe are not specifically designed for the purpose of pleural drainage, they are made of biologically inert materials with a long track record of intravenous use. We have not modified them before placement. To minimize the risk of complications at insertion, we were selective in our choice of patients and we monitor these patients closely from the safety and efficacy points of view.