STUDY OBJECTIVES Thoracoscopic pleural biopsy is highly accurate in the diagnosis of pleural malignancy. However, no scientific evidence is currently available to guide the physician's decision as to when and in which patients with pleural effusion thoracoscopy is indicated. The application of predictive criteria of malignancy might improve the indication of thoracoscopy in patients with undiag...

OBJECTIVE To assess the incidence of necrotizing pneumonia (NP) in children submitted to thoracoscopy, comparing patients with and without NP in terms of the presentation and clinical evolution. METHODS A retrospective study of children with pleural empyema submitted to thoracoscopy. Thoracoscopy was performed in patients not previously submitted to thoracic drainage and in whom there was evi...

BACKGROUND Medical thoracoscopy has been shown to be an efficacious procedure in diagnosing unexplained exudative pleural effusions with excellent safety. This study aimed to assess the diagnostic significance of thoracoscopy in the management of patients with malignant pleural effusion (MPE). METHODS Consecutive patients with malignant pleural effusion were retrospectively reviewed, and thei...

Thoracoscopy is currently the gold standard for the diagnosis and treatment of pleural diseases. Its diagnostic yield is 95% in patients with malignant pleural disease, with approximately 90% successful pleurodesis for malignant pleural effusion and 95% for pneumothorax. At the same time, thoracoscopy constitutes an important tool in the research of pleural pathophysiology and molecular biology...

BACKGROUND Despite progress of medical, the fast and accurate diagnosis of tuberculous pleuritis (TP) continues to be a challenge, mainly because of the lack of specific clinical features and the difficulty in isolating the Mycobacterium tuberculosis. OBJECTIVES To investigate the role of medical thoracoscopy in definite diagnosis of tuberculous pleuritis, especially the feature of visual dia...

Thoracoscopy is currently the gold standard for the diagnosis and treatment of pleural diseases. Its diagnostic yield is 95% in patients with malignant pleural disease, with approximately 90% successful pleurodesis for malignant pleural effusion and 95% for pneumothorax. At the same time, thoracoscopy constitutes an important tool in the research of pleural pathophysiology and molecular biology...

Background: Malignant pleural effusion is common in patients with advanced malignant tumor. The aim of this study is to analyze the characteristics of pleural metastasis of renal clear cell carcinoma, pleural effusion under medical thoracoscopy and the diagnostic value of interventional thoracoscopy-guided biopsy, and to improve the understanding of pleural metastasis of renal clear cell carcin...

Thoracoscopy is currently the gold standard for the diagnosis and treatment of pleural diseases. Its diagnostic yield is 95% in patients with malignant pleural disease, with approximately 90% successful pleurodesis for malignant pleural effusion and 95% for pneumothorax. At the same time, thoracoscopy constitutes an important tool in the research of pleural pathophysiology and molecular biology...

Minithoracoscopy, currently defined as thoracoscopy with instruments of a diameter between 2 and 5 mm, is part of the general evolution of endoscopy towards mini-invasiveness. Its most relevant indications in the field of medical thoracoscopy are small effusions, pleural effusions in patients with narrow intercostal spaces and suspected tuberculous pleurisy in areas of low incidence of tubercul...