BACKGROUND Chylothorax is a rare but serious postoperative complication in esophageal cancer patients. The aim of this study was to identify risk factors associated with chylothorax and the indication for surgical intervention. METHODS A consecutive series of 1290 patients who underwent esophagectomy for esophageal cancer was included. Peri-operative data, including postoperative morbidity an...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether increased antithrombin loss is present in children with chylothorax after cardiac surgery. METHODS Plasma and pleural effusion samples of children with chylous and non-chylous pleural effusion were assayed for antithrombin activity. RESULTS Ten children with chylothorax and five children with non-chylous pleural effusion were investigated. There was statistica...

Chylothorax is an uncommon clinical entity caused by obstruction or rupture of the thoracic duct. Malignant disease, mostly lymphoma or metastatic carcinoma, accounts for half and surgical trauma for a quarter of all cases.' Occasionally, chylothorax is caused by thrombosis of the great veins, benign cysts, or lymphangiomas of the thoracic duct, tuberculosis, mediastinitis, paravertebral absces...

Transudative chylothorax is an uncommon type of chylous pleural effusion, typically secondary to chyle leak and a coexisting disorder such as heart failure or liver cirrhosis. Sclerosing mesenteritis is a rare inflammatory disease of the small bowel mesentery, and has once previously been reported as a cause of chylothorax. We present the case of an 81-year-old man with a right-side transudativ...

Chylothorax is defined as the accumulation of lymphatic fluid or chyle in the pleural space. Chylothorax treatment is composed of conservative; pleural drainage, termination of enteral feeding, total parenteral nutrition and supplementation with medium- chain triglycerides and surgical therapies; ductus thoracicus ligation, pleuroperitoneal shunts or pleuredesis. Nowadays, for cases among which...

Chylothorax may rarely occur in osteolysis. A fatal case of bilateral chylothorax complicating massive osteolysis is described and the pathogenesis and management are discussed.

BACKGROUND Chylothorax is characterized by the presence of chyle in the pleural cavity. The healing rate of non-operative treatment varies enormously; the maximum success rate in series is 70%. We investigate the efficacy and outcomes of radiotherapy for postoperative chylothorax. METHODS Chylothorax was identified based on the quantity and quality of the drainage fluid. Radiation was indicat...

Chylothorax is a rare complication of advanced lymphoma. We present the case of an 80-year-old man diagnosed with B cell lymphoma presenting with a right chylothorax secondary to a large retroperitoneal mass. His disease was not responsive to initial treatment with chemotherapy. Fractionated radiotherapy to a dose of 2,000 cGy in five fractions was delivered to the retroperitoneal mass, and the...

Chylothorax, the accumulation of thoracic duct lymph in the pleural cavity, is an uncommon presentation of malignancy, but one that is generally regarded as indicating a grave prognosis.' Chylothorax following obstruction of the superior vena cava, first described experimentally in dogs by Blalock et al, is a recognised, and frequently fatal, complication of central venous catheterisation.3 We ...

Chylous fistula in the neck occurs in 1-2% of cases undergoing neck dissection with higher incidence on the left side due to damage of a high riding thoracic duct [1]. Chylothorax is a rare complication; approximately 20 cases of bilateral chylothorax have been reported in the past 100 years [2]. We report a case of bilateral chylothorax following neck dissection done for metastatic malignant m...