Three cases of inoperable secondary spontaneous pneumothorax were diagnosed in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Two cases initially underwent bronchial occlusion with endobronchial Watanabe spigot (EWS), while one underwent talc poudrage with pleuroscopy. As air leaks were not stopped completely in all cases with the initial procedures, we performed additional interventional...

Although talc has been used as a pleurodesis agent since 1935, a sterilization protocol has not been established. We obtained USP asbestos-free talc from six different suppliers and sterilized each using dry heat, gamma irradiation, and ethylene oxide gas. Aerobic, anaerobic, and fungal cultures were obtained prior to sterilization, and 1, 30, and 90 days after sterilization. Bacillus species w...

Incidence Etiology and Pathogenesis Diagnostic Approaches Clinical Manifestations Imaging Techniques Diagnostic Thoracentesis Closed Pleural Biopsy Medical Thoracoscopy Bronchoscopy Surgical Biopsy Treatment Indications and Contraindications Therapeutic Thoracentesis Chemical Pleurodesis Doxycycline Bleomycin Talc Pleurodesis Talc Poudrage Talc Slurry Treatment of Pleurodesis Failure Other Trea...

PURPOSE This study was conducted to evaluate the success rate of management of advanced. Lung cancer patients with malignant pleural effusion comparing talc powder with tetracycline for pleurodesis. PATIENTS AND METHODS We report 60 patients with lung cancer associated with malignant pleural effusion treated in the department of surgery NCI, Cairo University, between January. 1998 and Februar...

Intrapleural instillation of talc is used to produce pleurodesis in cases of recurrent malignant pleural effusions. The mechanisms by which pleurodesis is produced remain unknown but may involve either injury or activation of the mesothelium. The aim of the current study was to assess the inflammatory response of pleural mesothelial cells to talc in an experimental model in rabbits. A group of ...

From time to time the attention of the Division of Industrial Hygiene has been drawn, through compensation claims, to incapacitating fibrosis in. talc workers. Since silicate dusts, of which talc is one, have been considered relatively innocuous in the opinion of most authorities (the single exception being asbestos), the occurrence of these cases has naturally raised several questions-the obvi...

To the Editors: Cramer et al. (1) present very intriguing findings on anti-MUC1 antibodies and their relationship to ovarian cancer risk factors in healthy women, raising new theories on the role of immunity in ovarian cancer and opening up avenues for new research in this area. The analysis is straightforward, yet the conclusion about genital talc exposure increasing ovarian cancer risk via di...

The FDG-PET (fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography) scan is used with increasing frequency to investigate pleural abnormalities and to determine the possibility of neoplastic invasion. However, false-positive findings are not uncommon and talc pleurodesis has been reported to cause hypermetabolic pleural thickenings up to 5 years after the procedure. We report the cases of...

INTRODUCTION Pulmonary talc granulomatosis is a rare disorder characterized by the development of foreign body granuloma secondary to talc exposure. Previous case reports have documented the illness in current intravenous drug users who inject medications intended for oral use. We present a rare case of the disease in a patient with a distant history of heroin abuse who presented initially with...

The aim of this study was to examine the role of TLR2 molecule in pleural space during thoracoscopic talc pleurodesis period in patients with malignant pleural effusion. We analyzed TLR2 molecule in soluble form as well as on membrane of granulocytes in pleural fluid. Pleural fluid examination was done at three intervals during pleurodesis procedure: 1st-before the thoracoscopic procedure, 2nd-...