Background: Congenital chylothorax is the most common cause of pleural effusion in newborn infants. These infants show signs of respiratory distress at birth. Chemical pleurodesis with OK-432 has recently been proposed for cases of persistent congenital chylothorax as an alternative method to surgery. Here we report a case of neonate with congenital chylothorax who developed hemothorax and shoc...

Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is a common, debilitating complication of several types of advanced malignancy, which may significantly reduce the quality of life of patients. There are several options to treat MPE, including thoracentesis, placement of a long-term indwelling pleural catheter and chemical pleurodesis. The best treatment is still debated, but talc remains the agent of choice to...

STUDY OBJECTIVES In patients with disseminated neoplastic disease, recurrent pleural effusion is frequently observed. The purpose of this study was to determine the long-term efficacy and safety of pleurodesis by thoracoscopic talc poudrage (TTP) in malignant pleural effusions (MPEs). METHODS We report a consecutive series of 102 patients (45 women, 57 men; 20 to 83 years of age) who underwen...

STUDY OBJECTIVE To determine the effectiveness of pleurodesis by thoracoscopic talc poudrage (TTP) in patients with low pH malignant pleural effusions. DESIGN Review of prospectively collected data on all thoracoscopic procedures performed from 1982 to 1996. PATIENTS AND SETTING Twenty-five members in a prepaid, closed-panel health maintenance organization, whose malignant pleural effusion ...

AIMS Talc pleurodesis using talc slurry via chest tube is a primary option in malignant pleural effusion, since life expectancy is short and surgical decortication is hazardous. Incomplete lung expansion after fluid evacuation, and/or excessive fluid secretion predicts failure of pleurodesis. A mini-invasive alternative was investigated. METHODS Between March 2004 and September 2005, 51 conse...

Differential diagnosis of pleural effusion is an important issue, since the treatment modalities and prognosis strictly depend on early and correct diagnosis of the underlying etiology. We assessed the efficacy of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the differential diagnosis of patients with malignant and non-malignant pleural diseases. And also is assessed of the VEGF as a marker for...

INTRODUCTION The development of malignant pleural effusion (MPE) results in disabling breathlessness, pain and reduced physical capability with treatment a palliative strategy. Ambulatory management of MPE has the potential to improve quality of life (QoL). The OPTIMUM trial is designed to determine whether full outpatient management of MPE with an indwelling pleural catheter (IPC) and pleurode...