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.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES Pleural effusion is a common occurrence in patients with late-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD). In developing countries, many effusions remain undiagnosed after pleural fluid analysis (PFA) and patients are empirically treated with antitubercular therapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of adenosine deaminase (ADA), nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT...

BACKGROUND With the exception of areas with high prevalence of tuberculosis, medical thoracoscopy is becoming the diagnostic modality of choice for exudative pleural effusions. The aims of this study were to determine the diagnostic yield and safety of medical thoracoscopy for exudative pleural effusions and ascertain the etiology of such effusions in Qatar. METHODS This is a retrospective-de...

Videothoracoscopy has been proven to be a safe tool to establish the diagnosis in >90% of patients with exudative pleural effusions of unknown origin. In the majority of patients with malignant pleural diseases, the endoscopic appearance of pleural lesions during white light thoracoscopy is suggestive of malignancy, but could be misleading in some cases. The aim of the present study was to esti...

BACKGROUND There is only few data available on the use of cryotechnique during medical thoracoscopy. METHODS Medical thoracoscopy was performed in consecutive patients with pleural effusion. Prospectively, biopsies were taken by rigid forceps, flexible forceps and cryoprobe. Specimen size, depth and diagnostic yield were compared. RESULTS 80 Patients were included. 408 biopsies were taken (...

Pleural effusion caused by sarcoidosis is unusual. Medical thoracoscopy could help clinicians detect associated pleural disease, yet studies on thoracoscopic observations in sarcoidosis pleural involvement are rare. In this article, we report the utility of medical thoracoscopy in diagnosing sarcoid-related pleural disease for three patients. Pleural nodularity was common with solitary and mult...

Thoracoscopy is the most accurate yet most expensive tool for establishing the diagnosis of tuberculous (TB) pleurisy. However, most high TB-incidence regions have limited financial resources, lack the infrastructure needed for routine thoracoscopy and require an alternative, cost-effective diagnostic approach for pleural effusions. Altogether, 51 patients with undiagnosed exudative pleural eff...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Medical thoracoscopy, also called pleuroscopy, has received renewed interest in the recent past for diagnostic as well as therapeutic uses. In this study, we describe our experience with thoracoscopy for undiagnosed pleural effusions. METHODS In a retrospective analysis of thoracoscopic procedures we performed between January 2007 and December 2008, yield of thoracoscopic ...

results the mean duration of esophagectomy was 70 minutes and the total operation 180 minutes. the mean amount of bleeding during surgery was 250 cc. conversion to open approach occurred only in one patient out of 15. no cases of anastomotic leakage or pneumonia was observed. also, no case of mortality was reported. patients and methods this is a prospective study of 15 selected patients who un...