New insights in the use of pleural ultrasonography for diagnosis and treatment of pleural disease

The use of transthoracic ultrasound (US) has acquired a wide consensus among respiratory physicians during the last few years. The development of portable devices promotes patient's bedside evaluation providing rapid, real‐time and low‐cost diagnostic information. The different acoustic impedance between different tissues and organs produces artifacts known as A lines, B lines, sliding sign, lung point, etc. The identification of such artifacts is essential to discriminate normal pleural appearance from the presence of pleural effusion, pneumothorax, thickenings and tumors. Ultrasounds are also a valuable tool during interventional procedures, such as thoracentesis, chest tube insertion and transcutaneous biopsy. Its use is recommended before medical thoracoscopy in order to assess the best site of trocar insertion according to presence, quantity and characteristics of pleural effusion. The aim of this review is to provide practical tips on chest ultrasound in clinical and interventional respiratory practice.     

Unexpandable lung from pleural disease

Unexpandable lung is a common complication of malignant pleural effusions and inflammatory pleural diseases, such as pleural infection (e.g. empyema and complicated parapneumonic effusion) and noninfectious fibrinous pleuritis. Unexpandable lung due to pleural disease may be because of an active pleural process, and is referred to as malignant or inflammatory lung entrapment. An unexpandable lung may also be encountered in the setting of remote pleural inflammation resulting in a mature fibrous membrane overlying the visceral pleura preventing full expansion of the lung. This condition is termed trapped lung and may be understood as a form of defective healing of the pleural space. Trapped lung typically presents as a chronic, stable pleural effusion without evidence of active pleural disease. An unexpandable lung most often manifests itself as an inability of fully expanding the lung with pleural space drainage. Patients will either develop chest pain preventing complete drainage of the pleural space or develop a post‐procedure pneumothorax. Pleural manometry and radiological imaging are useful in the assessment of an unexpandable lung. Pleural manometry can demonstrate abnormal lung expansion during drainage and imaging will demonstrate abnormal visceral pleural thickening found in trapped lung or malignant and inflammatory lung entrapment.     

Pleura revisited: From histology and pathophysiology to pathology and molecular biology

Pleural cavity has an interesting physiology that when impaired gives rise to pleural effusions a rather frequent problem in respiratory medicine practice. Their aetiology varies widely producing distinct pathological lesions with different prognosis and treatment. The basic morphological features of pleural diseases, neoplastic and non‐neoplastic, will be analysed in this review with an emphasis to their pathophysiology, differential diagnosis and clinicopathological correlations.     

肺癌患者胸水中VEGF含量的测定及临床意义

目的探讨肺癌患者胸水中VEGF含量的测定及临床意义。方法选择于我院就诊治疗的70例胸水患者,观察两组患者胸水中VEGF含量的差异情况及阳性表达情况和临床病理特征的联系。结果恶性肿瘤患者胸水中VEGF的含量明显高于良性胸水VEGF的含量;胸液中VEGF含量用以诊断恶性胸水的最佳界值为1732.65 pg/ml;恶性胸水中VEGF阳性表达率为86.11%,高于良性胸水26.47%(χ2=25.40,P0.05);VEGF含量在肺癌的各种临床病理状态下,无显著性差异(P0.05)。结论肺癌患者胸水中VEGF含量的测定具有一定的临床诊断价值,对良、恶性胸水患者具有鉴别诊断意义。     

Lung adenocarcinoma with eosinophilic pleural effusion: A case report

Rationale:Eosinophilic pleural effusion (EPE) is a rare phenomenon in which the etiological diagnosis remains a challenging issue; here, we present a patient who was eventually diagnosed with malignant EPE by parietal pleural biopsy.Patient concerns:The patient was a 73-year-old man with pulmonary tuberculosis who was taking isoniazid and rifampin; after 6 months, he had right-sided eosinophilic pleura, and histopathological examination of the parietal pleura revealed malignant cells from the lung.Diagnosis:Based on the parietal pleural biopsy, the patient was diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma with ipsilateral pleural metastasis stage IVA.Interventions:The patient received a first-line systemic chemotherapy regimen (premetrexed and carboplatin).Outcomes:The patient received 2 cycles of chemotherapy, and based on the response evaluation criteria for solid tumors, he achieved partial response and the effusion disappeared.Lessons:This case presents a patient with tuberculosis who was suffering from an EPE, which was eventually diagnosed as malignant EPE based on histopathological examination through medical thoracoscopy, although multiple Thinprep cytology tests showed no evidence of malignancy, pleural biopsy is necessary to obtain an accurate etiology diagnosis.     

非小细胞肺癌性恶性胸腔积液研究进展

恶性胸腔积液（malignantpleuraleffusion,MPE）约占临床所有胸腔积液的40％,多数MPE患者症状严重,预后差,总体生存期3～6个月,且现有治疗效果不佳。MPE的病因复杂,主要为肿瘤对胸膜的直接侵袭和转移。肺癌是MPE最常见的病因,约15％晚期非小细胞肺癌会发生MPE。本文将综述非小细胞肺癌所致MPE的发生机制,并详细介绍MPE诊疗和预后进展。     

VEGF在胸腔积液病因鉴别诊断中的临床应用

目的探讨VEGF在胸腔积液病因鉴别诊断中的临床应用价值。方法观察我院100例并发胸腔积液患者,均明确引起胸腔积液病因,检测胸腔积液中VEGF水平。结果对比恶性肿瘤组和对照组的胸腔积液VEGF水平,恶性肿瘤组(387±98.05 ng/L)较对照组(102±65.24 ng/L)高,存在显著差异,具有统计学意义。结论胸腔积液VEGF检测简单易行,通过其水平的高低,可以在分析胸腔积液病因时籍此指导鉴别诊断。     

Pleural effusions and pneumothorax: Beyond simple plumbing

Pleural diseases affect millions of people worldwide. Pleural infection, malignant pleural diseases and pneumothorax are common clinical challenges. A large number of recent clinical trials have provided an evidence‐based platform to evaluate conventional and novel methods to drain pleural effusions/air which reduce morbidity and unnecessary interventions. These successes have generated significant enthusiasm and raised the profile of pleural medicine as a new subspecialty. The ultimate goal of pleural research is to prevent/stop development of pleural effusions/pneumothorax. Current research studies mainly focus on the technical aspects of pleural drainage. Significant knowledge gaps exist in many aspects such as understanding of the pathobiology of the underlying pleural diseases, pharmacokinetics of pleural drug delivery, etc. Answers to these important questions are needed to move the field forward. This article collates opinions of leading experts in the field in highlighting major knowledge gaps in common pleural diseases to provoke thinking beyond pleural drainage. Recognizing the key barriers will help prioritize future research in the quest to ultimately cure (rather than just drain) these pleural conditions.     

肺癌合并恶性胸腔积液化疗前后CEA、NSE、SCC-Ag的表达及意义

目的探讨肿瘤标志物CEA、NSE和SCC-Ag在肺癌合并恶性胸腔积液的诊断和评估近期疗效的价值。方法用电化学发光法分别检测肺癌合并恶性胸腔积液患者(实验组)和良性胸腔积液患者(对照组)血清及胸水中CEA、NSE和SCC-Ag水平,及实验组化疗后血清上述肿瘤标志物水平。结果实验组血及胸水中CEA、NSE、SCC-Ag水平均高于对照组(P0.05);化疗有效组血中CEA、NSE、SCC-Ag水平均低于化疗前(P0.05);化疗失败组血中CEA水平明显高于化疗前(P0.05),NSE、SCC-Ag水平无明显变化(P0.05)。结论 CEA、NSE、SCC-Ag对肺癌合并恶性胸腔积液的诊断有指导意义,CEA能判断肺癌合并恶性胸腔积液患者化疗的近期疗效。     

Prolonged pleural catheters in the management of pleural effusions due to breast cancer

Background

Breast cancer is the second most common etiologic cause in malignant pleural effusions (MPE). The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of long term pleural catheters in inducing self sclerosis in pleural effusions of breast cancer patients.

Methods

In this study, 26 patients with breast cancer relapleural effusions that occurred between January 2011 and July 2013, who were considered not to undergo any other treatments and managed with prolonged pleural catheters (Jackson-Pratt silicone flat drain), were retrospectively analyzed. Thirty pleural catheters were inserted in 26 patients. All patients were female, mean age was 52 (range, 37-66) years old. Drainage over 1,500 mL per day was not allowed in order to avoid a lung edema. The catheters were removed in patients who had restoration of lung expansion and drainage under 50 mL/day.

Results

The histologic subtypes in pleural effusions were invasive ductal carcinoma in 18 patients, ductal carcinoma in situ in 4, invasive lobular carcinoma in 2, tubular carcinoma in 1, and medullary carcinoma in 1. Three of the 26 patients underwent bilateral catheter insertion, and one patient underwent a reinsertion of the catheter into the same hemithorax due to a recurrence. The catheters were retained for a mean period of 18 days (range, 11-38 days). In one patient with invasive ductal carcinoma and paramalignant pleural effusion (PMPE) (3.8%), a recurrent pleural effusion was seen 34 days after removal of the catheter. There were no complications. One patient died while the catheter was in place.

Conclusions

Prolonged catheters for the management of pleural effusions in selected patients have become more popular than other treatment alternatives due to a shorter length of stay and lower costs. We recommend the use of Jackson Pratt (JP) silicone flat drains which in our opinion provide effective pleurodesis in addition to easy application in recurrent effusions caused by breast cancer.     

肺癌引起的恶性胸腔积液的研究和治疗进展

肺癌引起的恶性胸腔积液(malignant pleural effusion,MPE)发病率高且临床治疗效果不佳.出现MPE的肺癌患者生活质量明显下降,病死率明显增高.近期科学研究对MPE的病理生理过程进行了更多的阐述——宿主胸膜受肿瘤侵犯后分泌大量血管活性物质,促成了适合肿瘤生长的微环境和MPE的形成,同时肿瘤细胞通过激活某些信号通路、分泌重要的炎症介质来募集宿主细胞.同样地,宿主细胞也可激活细胞内信号通路、分泌炎症介质影响肿瘤细胞的功能.两者共同影响肿瘤的生长和MPE的产生.一些生物实验为MPE的形成提供了新的靶向治疗的方法,并且其得到的阳性结果为后续MPE的治疗提供了新的思路.     

Novel insights into the systemic treatment of lung cancer malignant pleural effusion

Lung cancer is the most common fatal malignancy worldwide. Approximately 75% of non‐small‐cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients are diagnosed at an advanced or a metastatic stage. Since 2007, NSCLC patients with malignant pleural effusion (MPE) are staged as M1 disease. During the last decades, chemotherapeutic agents failed to offer a significant improvement of survival in patients with metastatic disease. The current review aims to summarize the actual situation of the recently developed therapies in patients with lung cancer and MPE.