STUDY OBJECTIVE To describe the clinical, radiographic, and autopsy features of AIDS-related non-Hodgkin's Iymphoma (NHL) with pulmonary involvement. DESIGN Retrospective series of patients with HIV infection and NHL with pathologically documented lung or pleural involvement. SETTING A university and a county hospital in San Francisco. PATIENTS Thirty-eight patients with HIV infection and...

BACKGROUND Pleural effusion (PF) is a common clinical presentation in several diseases. Various parameters from pleural fluid have been studied to identify the cause. The diagnostic value of these parameters varies. The present study was carried out to evaluate the value of alkaline phosphatase concentration in the pleural effusions as a diagnostic tool. METHODS One hundred and one patients w...

A 38-year-old male presented to our hospital with the chief complaint of chronic cough. Eight years previously he was diagnosed with cilioretinal malignant melanoma and underwent left ophthalmectomy. On chest CT, pleural effusion and diffuse thickening of left pleura were suspected (Picture 1). The differential diagnosis included mesothlioma and metastatic melanoma. In thoracoscopic findings mu...

Diffuse pleural mesothelioma is a rare condition with a poor prognosis. Recent reports have indicated that extensive surgery combined with chemotherapy and radiotherapy prolongs the survival of selected patients with early disease. Thoracoscopy allows complete visualization of the pleural cavity and provides high-quality biopsy samples. We present a case of successful diagnosis of bilateral ple...

The authors report a case of thoracic splenosis, which is the autotransplantation of splenic tissue into the pleural cavity. Splenosis in the chest is a rare entity and most often an incidental finding on chest computed tomography, typically showing solitary or multiple well-defined, noncalcified pleural nodules of variable size in the left hemithorax. It is important to include this benign pat...

Plasma cell myeloma (PCM) is a hematologic malignancy of plasma cell origin and usually associated with the presence of lytic bone lesions. Pleural effusions are rarely associated with PCM and most often signify a concurrent disease process. Malignant myelomatous pleural effusions are even more unusual and carry a poor prognosis. We report a unique case of unsuspected PCM with thoracic involvem...

Thoracoscopy provides the physician a window into the pleural space, and enables the biopsy of the parietal pleura under direct visual guidance, chest tube placement and pleurodesis for recurrent pleural effusions or pneumothoraces in selected patients. In this review, we discuss the advances that have been achieved in thoracoscopy since its inception more than a century ago.

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...