To cite: Mathew JJ, Hollings NP, Myers JD. Thorax 2013;68:796–797. An 18-year-old female subject with a history of decortication for right sided, postpneumonic pleural thickening presented with haemoptysis. A CT pulmonary angiogram showed marked hypoplasia of the right main, lobar and segmental pulmonary arteries, along with reduced volume of the right lung. Prominent bronchial artery supply to...

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) poses great difficulty in making an early diagnosis in elderly males, often presenting with atypical manifestations. Acute onset of empyematous pleural effusion has rarely been seen. Herein, we report a 66-year-old man with SLE presenting with rapid progression of bilateral pleural effusion. Diagnostic thoracocentesis disclosed neutrophil-predominant exudates ...

We present a patient who was referred to our thoracic surgical service with a massive, loculated right pleural effusion accompanied by significant ascites. Thoracotomy and decortication were required and pleural biopsy led to a diagnosis of endometriosis. Aggressive medical therapy was subsequently initiated but hysterectomy with bilateral oophorectomy was required due to poor symptom control a...

Late complications of collapse therapy generally present as pyogenic, caseous, or mycotic empyema’4 at the site of the previous pneumothorax. Hemorrhagic effusion associated with pleural malignant change has been reported. To our knowledge, extrapleural hematoma without malignancy has not yet been described. Our patient’s medical history excluded external violence or traumatic thoracentesis. Al...

A 63-year-old woman was admitted to our clinic with arthralgia, microhematuria and a pleural based solid mass in lower lobe basal segment of right lung seen in computerised tomogram of thorax. She was diagnosed as Wegener's granulomatosis by histopathological findings of right thoracotomy, wedge resection and decortication. The patient had positive antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (c-ANCA)...

Aspergillus is a ubiquitous fungus and can cause many levels of disease severity. Chronic necrotizing aspergillosis is a rare disease and few cases have been reported in Korea. We experienced a case of pleural aspergillosis that was treated successfully with medical and surgical interventions. The 52-year-old man who was diagnosed with chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis underwent surgi...

At initial presentation, chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis may mimic acute hematogenous osteomyelitis; however, cultures of affected bone are sterile. Nuclear scintigraphy identifies additional foci of involvement that present concurrently or sequentially. Unlike acute bacterial osteomyelitis, chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis seems unaffected by antibiotic therapy and typical...