Sir, We report a case of a 48-year-old male with end-stage renal disease secondary to focal segmental glomerular sclerosis, who began continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (PD) in June 2002. Three months later, minoxidil 5mg/day was introduced because of uncontrolled hypertension. Oedema and weight gain appeared in spite of 3 l/day net ultrafiltration on PD. Left pleural effusion associated...

We measured the concentration of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in the serum and pleural fluid of 53 patients with pleural effusions, including seven patients with small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). High levels (above 12.5 micrograms.l-1) of NSE in pleural fluid were observed in five patients with SCLC (sensitivity 71%). However, pleural fluid NSE levels were also ...

A 14-yr-old White male was referred to the Urology Unit of the G. Gaslini Institute because of a post-traumatic urethral stenosis (arising from a bicycle accident) that, during the previous 18 months, had required repeated endoscopic urethral dilation manoeuvres at the patient9s local hospital. Apart from the urethral stenosis, the patient had been in excellent health until 2 months before admi...

Pleural effusions in patients with malignant disease are not invariably due to metastatic spread to the pleura and thus, they are not always incurable. For example, about 5% of patients with effusions due to lung cancer have subsequently been found to be operable and curable [1]. It is, therefore, important to assess the potential curability in all cancer patients with cytologically negative ef...

BACKGROUND Pleural infection is common, and has a >30% major morbidity and mortality-particularly when infection is caused by Gram-negative, Staphylococcus aureus or mixed aerobic pathogens. Standard pleural fluid culture is negative in ∼40% of cases. Culturing pleural fluid in blood culture bottles may increase microbial yield, and is cheap and easy to perform. OBJECTIVES To determine whethe...

Although eosinophilic pleural effusion (EPE) has been a subject of numerous studies, its clinical significance still remains unclear. The aim of our study was to evaluate: 1) the relative incidence and aetiology of EPE; 2) the predictors of malignancy in patients with EPE; and 3) the relationship between repeated thoracentesis and pleural fluid eosinophilia. A retrospective analysis of 2,205 pl...

Currently, new biomarkers like N-Terminal-Pro-B-Type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) have been used in the differential diagnosis of pleural effusions. In our study, we aimed to investigate the diagnostic value of NT-proBNP, especially in cardiac originated pleural effusions. Forty-five patients with pleural effusions were included in the study. NT-proBNP levels and biochemical markers involved...

INTRODUCTION Pleural effusions are a common clinical problem and affect about one million people in the United States and United Kingdom each year. Over 60 causes of pleural effusion have been identified; establishing the definitive aetiology can be difficult, and often requires invasive procedures. Guidelines state that macroscopic examination of the fluid should be the first step in determini...

abstract background: increase in nitric oxide (no) concentration accompanied by alteration in peritoneal immune defense reactions is involved in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. asymmetric dimethylarginine is an endogenous competitive inhibitor of no synthase. this study was designed to compare no metabolite (nitrite), asymmetric dimethylarginine, and estradiol concentrations in serum and per...

: Over 1.5 million patients are admitted to hospital with pneumonia in the United States each year. Up 50% of them can develop a parapneumonic effusion which is associated higher mortality. The incidence pleural infection continues rise, particularly elderly and those comorbidities. Parapneumonic effusions cover spectrum presentations from free-flowing ‘simple effusion’ septated ‘complicated (C...