The use of Jackson-Pratt silicone flat drains as prolonged pleural catheters for the management of pleural effusions

Introduction

Imbalance between secretion and absorbtion of pleural fluid results in pleural effusion. Emergence of pleural effusion ipsilateral or contralateral to the side drained previously is named recurrent effusion. There is currently no standart approach for the management of recurrent pleural effusions.

Materials and methods

Eighteen patients, treated between 2011 and 2012 for recurrent pleural effusions due to various etiologies, not considered for surgical or other treatments, and underwent placement of prolonged pleural catheters (Jackson-Pratt drain) were included in this study. Twenty two prolonged pleural catheters were inserted in 18 patients. There were 10 females and 8 males, with mean age 59 (35-77). In 20 patients the catheters were inserted by an anterior approach, and by a posterior approach in one patient. Daily drainage above 1,500 mL was not permitted in order to avoid pulmonary edema. Catheters were removed in patients who had lung expansion and drainage under 50 mL/day.

Results

The most common etiology for pleural effusions was extrathoracic malignancy in 9 patients, primary bronchial carcinoma in 5 patients, and benign pleural effusion in 4 patients. Four patients underwent bilateral prolonged pleural catheter insertion. The catheters were retained for a mean period of 19 (10-40) days. Pleural effusion recurred two months after removal of the catheter in one patient with primary bronchial cancer (5%). Only one patient developed a complication (empyema) while under drainage (5%). Two patients died while the catheter was in place.

Conclusions

Decreased length of stay and lower costs have enabled prolonged are the major advantages of pleural catheter applications in appropriate patients compared to other treatment methods. We believe that the Jackson Pratt silicone flat drains provide effective pleurodesis along with easy application, and suggest their use as an alternative to pleurodesis in especially malignant pleural effusions and not benign pleural effusions.KEY WORDS : Pleural effusion, prolonged pleural catheter, pleurodesis     

Rapid pleurodesis is an outpatient alternative in patients with malignant pleural effusions: a prospective randomized controlled trial

Background

Chemical pleurodesis can be palliative for recurrent, symptomatic pleural effusions in patients who are not candidate for a thoracic surgical procedure. We hypothesized that effective pleurodesis could be accomplished with a rapid method of pleurodesis as effective as the standard method.

Methods

A prospective randomized ‘non-inferiority’ trial was conducted in 96 patients with malignant pleural effusion (MPE) who are not potentially curable and/or not amenable to any other surgical intervention. They were randomly allocated to group 1 (rapid pleurodesis) and to group 2 (standard protocol). In group 1, following complete fluid evacuation, talc slurry was instilled into the pleural space. This was accomplished within 2 h of thoracic catheter insertion, unless the drained fluid was more than 1,500 mL. After clamping the tube for 30 min, the pleural space was drained for 1 h, after which the thoracic catheter was removed. In group 2, talc-slurry was administered when the daily drainage was lower than 300 mL/day.

Results

No-complication developed due to talc-slurry in two groups. Complete or partial response was achieved in 35 (87.5%) and 33 (84.6%) patients in group 1 and group 2 respectively (P=0.670). The mean drainage time was 40.7 and 165.2 h in group 1 and group 2 respectively (P<0.001).

Conclusions

Rapid pleurodesis with talc slurry is safe and effective and it can be performed in an outpatient basis.     

Role of blind closed pleural biopsy in the management of pleural exudates

INTRODUCTION:

The performance of blind closed pleural biopsy (BCPB) in the study of pleural exudates is controversial.

OBJECTIVE:

To assess the diagnostic yield of BCPB in clinical practice and its role in the study of pleural exudates.

METHODS:

Data were retrospectively collected on all patients who underwent BCPB performed between January 1999 and December 2011.

RESULTS:

A total of 658 BCPBs were performed on 575 patients. Pleural tissue was obtained in 590 (89.7%) of the biopsies. A malignant pleural effusion was found in 35% of patients. The cytology and the BCPB were positive in 69.2% and 59.2% of the patients, respectively. Of the patients with negative cytology, 21 had a positive BCPB (diagnostic improvement, 15%), which would have avoided one pleuroscopy for every seven BCPBs that were performed. Of the 113 patients with a tuberculous effusion, granulomas were observed in 87 and the Lowenstein culture was positive in an additional 17 (sensitivity 92%). The overall sensitivity was 33.9%, with a specificity and positive predictive value of 100%, and a negative predictive value of 71%. Complications were recorded in 14.4% of patients (pneumothorax 9.4%; chest pain 5.6%; vasovagal reaction, 4.1%; biopsy of another organ 0.5%).

CONCLUSIONS:

BCPB still has a significant role in the study of a pleural exudate. If an image-guided technique is unavailable, it seems reasonable to perform BCPB before resorting to a pleuroscopy. These results support BCPB as a relatively safe technique.     

Role of medical thoracoscopy in the treatment of tuberculous pleural effusion

Background

Fibrous tuberculous pleural effusion (TPE) represents common disease in tuberculous clinic. Medical thoracoscopy has been used to treat pleural empyema and shown promising outcomes, but data of its use in multiloculated and organized TPE remains limited to know.

Methods

The study was performed on 430 cases with TPE. The cases were divided into free-flowing, multiloculated effusion and organized effusion group. Each group was subdivided into two or three types of therapeutic approaches: ultrasound guided pigtail catheter, large-bore tube chest drainage and medical thoracoscopy. Patients with multiloculated or organized effusions received streptokinase, introduced into the pleural cavity via chest tubes. The successful effectiveness of the study was defined as duration of chest drainage, time from treatment to discharge days and no further managements.

Results

Patients with organized effusion were older than those with free-flowing effusion and incidence of organized effusion combined with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) was higher than those of multiloculated effusion and free-flowing effusion respectively. Positive tuberculosis of pleural fluid culture was higher in organized effusion than that in free-flowing effusion. Sputum positive for acid-fast bacillus (AFB) in organized effusion was higher than that in multiloculated effusion and free-flowing effusion. Medical thoracoscopy showed significant efficacy in the group of multiloculated effusion and organized effusion but free-flowing effusion. No chronic morbidity and mortality related to complications was observed.

Conclusions

Medical thoracoscopy was a safe and successful method in treating multiloculated and organized TPE.     

The clinical utility of pleural YKL-40 levels in diagnosing pleural effusions

Background and objective

Recent evidence suggests that YKL-40 is a relatively new biomarker of inflammation and it is involved in the pathogenesis of several pulmonary diseases. Details of serum and pleural YKL-40 in pleural effusions however, remain unknown. We aimed to assess whether serum and pleural YKL-40 is an accurate biomarker of pleural effusions.

Methods

This clinical study was prospective, observational and cross-sectional. The concentrations of serum and pleural fluid YKL-40 and conventional pleural marker levels were measured in 80 subjects with pleural effusions, including 23 transudates caused by congestive heart failure (CHF), and 57 exudates including 23 parapneumonic, 22 malignant and 12 tuberculous pleural effusions (TBPEs).

Results

Median pleural fluid YKL-40 levels were higher in exudates than in transudates (219.4 and 205.9 ng/mL, respectively, P<0.001). High pleural YKL-40 levels, with a cutoff value of >215 ng/mL, yielded a 73% sensitivity, 73% specificity, likelihood ratio 2.8 for diagnosing exudate, with an area under the curve of 0.770 [95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.657-0.884]. Pleural YKL-40/serum YKL-40 ratio >1.5 yielded a 75% sensitivity, 72% specificity and likelihood ratio 2.6 for diagnosing TBPE, with an area under the curve of 0.825 (95% CI: 0.710-0.940).

Conclusions

High concentrations of pleural YKL-40 level may help to differentiate exudate from transudate and a high pleural YKL-40/serum YKL-40 ratio may be helpful in seperating TBPE from non-tuberculous effusions.KEYWORDS : Exudate, pleural effusion, transudate, tuberculosis, YKL-40     

Diagnostic and prognostic significance of lysophosphatidic acid in malignant pleural effusions

Background

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is an important extracellular signal transmitter and intracellular second messenger in body fluids. It can be detected in the ascitic fluid of patients with ovarian cancer. Increasing evidence shows that LPA can stimulate cancer cell proliferation and promote tumor invasion and metastasis. Our study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of LPA in differentiating between malignant pleural effusions (MPEs) and benign pleural effusions (BPEs) and to evaluate the association between the level of LPA in MPE and the prognosis of lung cancer patients.

Patients and methods

The level of LPA in the pleural effusions (PEs) of 123 patients (94 MPE, 29 BPE) with lung cancer was evaluated using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The performance of LPA was analyzed by standard Receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC) analysis methods, using the area under the curve (AUC) as a measure of accuracy. Overall survival (OS) curves and progression-free survival (PFS) curves were based on the Kaplan-Meier method, and the survival differences between subgroups were analyzed using the log-rank or Breslow test (SPSS software). A multivariate Cox proportional hazards model was used to assess whether LPA independently predicted lung cancer survival.

Results

The levels of LPA differed significantly between MPE (22.08±8.72 µg/L) and BPE (14.61±5.12 µg/L) (P<0.05). Using a cutoff point of 18.93 µg/L, LPA had a sensitivity of 60% and a specificity of 83% to distinguish MPEs from BPEs with an AUC of 0.769±0.045 (SE) (P=0.000) (95% CI, 0.68-0.857). In the three pathological types of lung cancer patients with MPE, there were no significant associations between LPA levels and the length of PFS and OS (P=0.58 and 0.186, respectively). Interestingly, in the patients with MPE caused by lung adenocarcinoma there were significant associations between the LPA levels and the PFS and OS (P=0.018 and 0.026, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that the LPA level was an independent prognostic factor for PFS in lung adenocarcinoma.

Conclusions

Our results indicate that LPA can be used as a new biomarker for the diagnosis of MPE caused by lung cancer and that higher levels of LPA are related to shorter PFS in adenocarcinoma of the lung.     

Charlson comorbidity index and adult comorbidity evaluation-27 scores might predict treatment compliance and development of pleural effusions in elderly patients with chronic myeloid leukemia treated with second-line dasatinib

Background

Comorbidities may affect survival and choice of treatment among cancer patients. In fact, comorbidities have been identified as significant determinants of response to therapy in older patients with acute myeloid leukemia, breast cancer, head and neck cancer, and lung cancer. The Charlson comorbidity index and adult comorbidity evaluation-27 are lists of comorbidities with a weight assigned from 1 to 6 for the former and from 0 to 3 for the latter score, derived from relative risk estimates of a proportional hazard regression model using clinical data.

Design and Methods

We retrospectively evaluated the Charlson index and adult comorbidity evaluation-27 score in a cohort of 125 elderly (> 60 years) patients with chronic phase chronic myeloid leukemia who received dasatinib after showing resistance or intolerance to imatinib with the aim of establishing associations between comorbidities and the development of pleural effusions or compliance with the drug treatment.

Results

We found a significant association between the Charlson index as well as the adult comorbidity evaluation-27 score and the rate of drug reduction or suspension: with regards to the Charlson index, 49% of score 0 patients had a dose reduction compared to 63% of patients with score 1, 74% of those with score 2 and 100% of patients with score 3–5 (P=0.03); with regards to the adult comorbidity evaluation-27 score, 45% of patients had score 0–1 and 69% of patients with score 2–3 had a dose reduction. Of the 65 patients with Charlson score 0, 29% had at least one suspension of treatment (79% for hematologic and 21% for non-hematologic toxicity), compared to 46% of patients with score 1 (37% for hematologic and 69% for non-hematologic toxicity), 58% of patients with score 2 (36% for hematologic and 64% for non-hematologic toxicity) and 100% of patients with score 3 or 4 (all patients for both types of toxicity). High adult comorbidity index-27 scores identified patients at high risk of grade 3/4 hematologic toxicity. Forty-one patients (32.8%) experienced pleural effusion during treatment: the highest scores for both indices were associated with an increased risk of pleural effusions.

Conclusions

In elderly patients with chronic myeloid leukemia treated with dasatinib, the rate of drug reduction or suspension and the incidence of pleural effusions seem to be associated with the presence of comorbidities: stratification according to the Charlson index and adult comorbidity evaluation-27 score before dasatinib therapy may enable the identification of patients at risk of major toxicities.     

Uso del drenaje pleural permanente en el manejo ambulatorio del derrame pleural maligno recidivante

Background and objective

To analyse the effectiveness and safety of the indwelling pleural catheter in the management of recurrent malignant pleural effusion.

Patients and methods

A prospective multicentre study was performed in 63 consecutive outpatients from four Spanish hospitals. A total of 43 men and 20 women were included, with a median age of 67 years. In seven of the cases treatment with pleurodesis had failed; in five other cases their lung was trapped; in another five cases after repeat therapeutic thoracocentesis, and the rest of them as a preference choice to pleurodesis. All patients had an indwelling pleural catheter inserted (PleurX^®, Denver Biomedical).

Results

Most of patients (94.5%) reported an improvement in their respiratory symptoms (cough and dyspnoea) and their ability to function independently. Average length of the catheterisation was 45 days (6–222). Average amount of drained pleural effusion was 75 ml, with a frequency of drainage of between 3 and 4 times per week and once fortnightly. Spontaneous pleurodesis was achieved following 34.9% of procedures. No complications occurred during the insertion of the catheter. The post-catheterisation complications were empyema (3 cases), chest pain (2 cases), and tumour metastasis (3 cases).

Conclusions

The use of an indwelling pleural catheter is an effective palliative treatment in the outpatient management for patients suffering malignant pleural effusion. It is also a simple treatment that can be easily applied, does not require hospitalisation and can be easily managed by the patient at home, with a low rate of complications.     

Treatment failure after extrapleural pneumonectomy for malignant pleural mesothelioma

Background

Extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) has been used as a treatment option for selected patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). The primary end-point of this study was disease-free survival (DFS). Prognostic indicators for local and overall DFS were statistically analyzed.

Methods

Between October 1994 to April 2008, 59 patients who had complete macroscopic cytoreduction after EPP formed the basis of this report. In recent years, selected patients received adjuvant radiotherapy and pemetrexed combined with cisplatin or carboplatin. The clinicopathologic data of all patients were prospectively collected in a computerized database. Statistical analysis was performed by using Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the log-rank test. Cox-regression model was used for multivariate analysis.

Results

The mean age at the time of EPP was 59 (S.D. = 8) years. Nineteen patients (32%) experienced perioperative complications. The median survival was 21 months (range 2 to 104). The local disease recurrence rate was 51%. The median local DFS was 22 months (0 to 73). The overall disease recurrence rate was 64%. The median overall DFS was 18 months (range 0 to 73). In multivariate analysis, epithelial subtype (p = 0.026) and adjuvant radiotherapy (p = 0.023) were independently associated with an improved local DFS. Adjuvant radiotherapy (p = 0.011) was also independently associated with an improved overall DFS.

Conclusions

This study demonstrated that that local disease failure was still a considerable clinical problem following complete EPP. The data also showed that patients with epithelial histology and receiving adjuvant radiotherapy were associated with an improved disease control.     

Effectiveness of tunneled pleural catheter placement in patients with malignant pleural effusions

Pleural effusions (PE) occur frequently among patients with various types of advanced malignancies, resulting in remarkably decreased quality of life. Treatment of malignant PE includes placement of a chest tube with subsequent placement of a tunneled pleural catheter. We reviewed our experience with tunneled pleural catheter use to assess outcomes and resource utilization of this intervention. A retrospective study of consecutive patients (n = 163, including 41 outpatients) who were treated between July 2001 and April 2008 with tunneled pleural catheters was performed to evaluate operative and discharge outcomes. The average age of the patients was 59.32 years (range: 24 to 89). Lung cancer, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer were common primary diseases in this patient population. The mean hospital stay after tunneled pleural catheter placement was 3.19 days (range: 0 to 56), with 41 patients treated as outpatients. Thirteen inpatient deaths were related to the patients'' primary diseases, but no deaths were due to drain placement itself. Eight patients (4.91%) required reoperation to replace a nonfunctioning drain or to add an additional drain, and six patients underwent a second procedure to place a contralateral drain. One hundred twenty-six patients (77.30%) were discharged home following the procedure and hospital stay. Fifty-five people achieved spontaneous pleurodesis. Tunneled pleural catheter placement is a safe and effective approach to the treatment of PE. The advantages of tunneled pleural catheter placement include symptomatic relief and improved quality of life. This method allows patients to spend time at home with their family and avoid prolonged hospitalization.     

Mobility therapy and central or peripheral catheter-related adverse events in an ICU in Brazil

OBJECTIVE:

To determine whether mobility therapy is associated with central or peripheral catheter-related adverse events in critically ill patients in an ICU in Brazil.

METHODS:

A retrospective analysis of the daily medical records of patients admitted to the Clinical Emergency ICU of the University of São Paulo School of Medicine Hospital das Clínicas Central Institute between December of 2009 and April of 2011. In addition to the demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients, we collected data related to central venous catheters (CVCs), hemodialysis (HD) catheters and indwelling arterial catheters (IACs): insertion site; number of catheter days; and types of adverse events. We also characterized the mobility therapy provided.

RESULTS:

Among the 275 patients evaluated, CVCs were used in 49%, HD catheters were used in 26%, and IACs were used in 29%. A total of 1,268 mobility therapy sessions were provided to patients while they had a catheter in place. Catheter-related adverse events occurred in 20 patients (a total of 22 adverse events): 32%, infection; 32%, obstruction; and 32%, accidental dislodgement. We found that mobility therapy was not significantly associated with any catheter-related adverse event, regardless of the type of catheter employed: CVC-OR = 0.8; 95% CI: 0.7-1.0; p = 0.14; HD catheter-OR = 1.04; 95% CI: 0.89-1.21; p = 0.56; or IAC-OR = 1.74; 95% CI: 0.94-3.23; p = 0.07.

CONCLUSIONS:

In critically ill patients, mobility therapy is not associated with the incidence of adverse events involving CVCs, HD catheters, or IACs.     

Efficacy of percutaneous pigtail catheters for thoracostomy at bedside

Objective

Given the potential morbidity of traditional chest tube insertion, use of pigtail is desirable. The purpose of this case series is to determine the efficacy of bedside pigtail thoracostomy catheters in Adult population by using bedside ultrasound by the pulmonologists.

Methods

It is a retrospective case series, which describes the importance of bedside pigtail catheters placements for emergent symptomatic relief for the patients. Predicting a successful drainage, procedure is a complex and multifactorial process based on size, location, character and configuration of the abscess.

Results

Our experience shows that the use of standard size (7-8.5 F) pigtail catheters is usually very successful in draining of the pleural fluids. Less time consumption, lower cost and bedside technique makes it superior to conventional chest tube placement in many aspects.

Conclusions

Percutaneous pigtail catheters are useful in the drainage of pleural fluids. The pigtail catheters can be placed successful at bedside by the pulmonologists under ultrasound guidance with minimal complications and marked clinical improvement. The cost effectives of this procedure over the conventional chest tube placement, makes this procedure more desirable in most of the hospital settings.Key words: Pigtail thoracostomy catheters, bedside procedure, cast effective     

Preservation of pleural integrity during coronary artery bypass surgery affects respiratory functions and postoperative pain: A prospective study

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the role of preserved pleural integrity in postoperative pain and respiratory functional status in patients undergoing coronary revascularization.

METHODS

Two hundred forty patients undergoing on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting between March 2004 and February 2005 were included in the present study. The patients were prospectively randomized and divided into either an opened pleura (OP) group (n=120, patients with an OP) or a closed pleura (CP) group (n=120, patients whose pleural integrity was preserved). Preoperative patient characteristics were similar. Postoperative respiratory functions were compared between the groups by chest x-rays, respiratory functional tests and arterial blood gas analyses. Postoperative pain was compared by using a multidimensional pain score. All the tests were examined by the same blinded clinician.

RESULTS

The mean age of the patients was 60.4±8.8 years. Postoperative bleeding and the duration of hospital stay were markedly higher in the OP group than in the CP group. The incidences of atelectasis and pleural effusion were also significantly higher in the OP group (P<0.01). Respiratory functions and postoperative pain scores were better in the CP group (P<0.01 and P=0.008, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Preserving pleural integrity has beneficial effects on the respiratory functions and postoperative pain after coronary revascularization. The preservation of pleural integrity results in better respiratory function, decreased hospital stay and cost, and as a consequence, a better surgical outcome.     

Etiología del derrame pleural: análisis de más de 3.000 toracocentesis consecutivas

Objective

To investigate the etiology of pleural effusions (PE) in adults and the accuracy of pleural fluid (PF) cytology and cultures in malignant and infectious PE, respectively.

Patients and methods

Retrospective analysis of all consecutive patients with PE undergoing diagnostic thoracentesis during the last 19 years in a university hospital.

Results

The leading causes of PE among the 3,077 patients were: cancer (27%), heart failure (21%), pneumonia (19%), tuberculosis (9%), abdominal surgery (4%), pericardial diseases (4%) and cirrhosis (3%). Tuberculosis was the most common etiology in patients < 34 years of age (52%), whereas heart failure predominated in octogenarians (45%). The most common primary tumors in malignant PE were lung (37%) and breast (16%). The overall accuracy of PF cytology was 59%, although it was significantly lower in mesotheliomas (27%) and squamous cell lung cancer (25%). In infectious PE, only 30% of cultures yielded positive results, a percentage which increased two-fold (66%) in purulent fluids (empyemas). Viridans streptococci were the most commonly isolated pathogens (25.5%). The sensitivity of solid media cultures of PF for Mycobacterium tuberculosis was low (18.5%).

Conclusions

Three-quarters of patients with PE in whom a diagnostic thoracentesis was indicated had cancer, heart failure, pneumonia or tuberculosis. PF cytology and cultures give false negative results in a significant number of cases.     

Thoracoscopic pleural biopsy improves yield of Xpert MTB/RIF for diagnosis of pleural tuberculosis

Background and objective

Extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) accounts for ~15% of all TB patients, and TB pleural effusion is the second most common site of EPTB. The diagnosis of pleural TB is challenging due to the pauci‐bacillary nature of the disease. Histopathology of thoracoscopically obtained pleural biopsy provides the highest diagnostic yield. The Xpert MTB/RIF assay (Xpert) is a PCR test that can identify both Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and rifampicin resistance. Currently, there is a lack of clarity regarding the value of Xpert on pleural tissue. We report our experience of using Xpert on thoracoscopic pleural biopsy samples.

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed the records of patients who underwent thoracoscopy in our institution over a 1‐year period. Relevant clinical details; indications; and results of tests on pleural tissue and fluid, including histopathology, mycobacterial cultures and Xpert, were extracted.

Results

Of the 156 patients who underwent thoracoscopy, 73 (47%) had TB, 66 (42%) malignancy and 17 (11%) other conditions. Histopathology was diagnostic in all the 73 TB patients (100%). The yields of the microbiological tests against histopathology on thoracoscopic biopsy sample and pleural fluid were: pleural tissue Xpert 45%, pleural tissue culture 39%, pleural fluid culture 17% and pleural fluid Xpert 14%. Pleural tissue provided higher yields than fluid in both Xpert and culture (P < 0.05). Pleural tissue Xpert provided a higher yield than culture and substantially improved yield compared with closed pleural biopsy as we previously reported.

Conclusion

Thoracoscopic pleural biopsy results in increased sensitivity on Xpert testing.

     

Myelomatous pleural effusion as an initial sign of multiple myeloma—a case report and review of literature

Objective

Discuss and improve the understanding of the clinical characters and diagnostic methods of myelomatous pleurisy, particularly of the patients with pleural effusion as an initial manifestation.

Background

A 53-year-old male, who had been misdiagnosed as tuberculous pleurisy in a local hospital, was diagnosed as multiple myeloma (MM) with pleural infiltration. We reviewed the literature on clinical manifestations, serum and pleural effusion characters, treatment and diagnostic options of this exceptionally rare presentation of MM.

Methods

We conducted a search of the published medical literature since 2000 in MEDLINE and PubMed using search criteria [(“pleural effusion” and “MM”) or “myelomatous pleural effusions”]. The search led to 64 case reports, and 16 cases with pleural effusion as an initial manifestation were included in this review. We have also searched for recent advances in diagnosis.

Results and conclusions

Myelomatous pleurisy is a rare complication of MM. Its clinical and laboratory findings are non-specific. Definitive diagnosis relies on the histopathology of pleural biopsy or pleural effusion. Thoracoscopic pleural biopsy is reliable, safe and effective. Chemotherapy is the mainstay of treatment for myelomatous pleural effusion. However, the response rate is low with an overall median survival time of 4 months.     

Application of immediate breast reconstruction with silicon prosthetic implantation following bilateral mammary gland excision in treatment of young patients with early breast cancer

Objective

To evaluate the application of immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) with silicon prosthetic implantation following bilateral nipple-preserving subcutaneous mammary gland excision in the treatment of young patients with early breast cancer.

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 21 patients with breast cancer who were performed on IBR following bilateral nipple-preserving subcutaneous mammary gland excision in our hospital from January 2006 to March 2011.

Results

The operations were successful in all the 21 patients. Also, the treatment provided a good cosmetic effect. No local recurrence or distant metastasis was found in these 21 patients during the 6-66-month follow-up.

Conclusions

For the young patients with early breast cancer, mammary gland excision on the affected side along with prophylactic excision of the contralateral side, namely IBR following bilateral nipple-preserving subcutaneous mammary gland excision, provides good clinical effectiveness and cosmetological effects.KEY WORDS : Breast cancer, prophylactic mastectomy, immediate breast reconstruction     

Effectiveness and safety of diagnostic flexi-rigid thoracoscopy in differentiating exudative pleural effusion of unknown etiology: a retrospective study of 215 patients

Background

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of diagnostic flexi-rigid thoracoscopy in differentiating exudative pleural effusion of unknown etiology.

Methods

A total of 215 patients with undiagnosed exudative pleural effusion were consecutively recruited between January 2011 and February 2013. Thoracoscopy was carried out under local anesthesia, and multisite pleural biopsies were performed using a flexi-rigid thoracoscope. The tolerance of the patients, surgical complications and postoperative pathological diagnosis rate were used to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of the thoracoscopy procedures.

Results

All patients, Karnofsky performance status (KPS) >70, could tolerate both the thoracoscopic surgery and pleural biopsy; there were no severe complications. Thoracoscopic findings included pleural hyperaemia, fibrinous adhesion, nodular bulge and fester. The pathological biopsy confirmed diagnoses of malignant tumor (97 cases), tuberculous pleuritis (91 cases), tuberculous empyema (one case), pulmonary schistosomiasis (one case) and unknown etiology (25 cases). The total diagnosis rate was 88.4%. Subcutaneous emphysema occurred in ten cases and fever in six cases, all of which recovered completely with conservative treatment.

Conclusions

Flexi-rigid thoracoscopy had a high diagnosis rate, differentiating exudative pleural effusion of unknown etiology with satisfactory effectiveness and safety. There was high degree of relationship between thoracoscopic appearance and primary disease or tumor classification.     

Mediastinal micro-vessels clipping during lymph node dissection may contribute to reduce postoperative pleural drainage

Background

Postoperative pleural drainage markedly influences the length of postoperative stay and financial costs of medical care. The aim of this study is to retrospectively investigate potentially predisposing factors related to pleural drainage after curative thoracic surgery and to explore the impact of mediastinal micro-vessels clipping on pleural drainage control after lymph node dissection.

Methods

From February 2012 to November 2013, 322 consecutive cases of operable non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) undergoing lobectomy and mediastinal lymph node dissection with or without application of clipping were collected. Total and daily postoperative pleural drainage were recorded. Propensity score matching (1:2) was applied to balance variables potentially impacting pleural drainage between group clip and group control. Analyses were performed to compare drainage volume, duration of chest tube and postoperative hospital stay between the two groups. Variables linked with pleural drainage in whole cohort were assessed using multivariable logistic regression analysis.

Results

Propensity score matching resulted in 197 patients (matched cohort). Baseline patient characteristics were matched between two groups. Group clip showed less cumulative drainage volume (P=0.020), shorter duration of chest tube (P=0.031) and postoperative hospital stay (P=0.022) compared with group control. Risk factors significantly associated with high-output drainage in multivariable logistic regression analysis were being male, age >60 years, bilobectomy/sleeve lobectomy, pleural adhesion, the application of clip applier, duration of operation ≥220 minutes and chylothorax (P<0.05).

Conclusions

This study suggests that mediastinal micro-vessels clipping during lymph node dissection may reduce postoperative pleural drainage and thus shorten hospital stay.     

Management of recurrent malignant pleural effusions with a tunneled indwelling pleural catheter

In this review, we report on the use of indwelling pleural catheters in the treatment of malignant pleural effusions. We describe the most commonly used catheter. Also, treatment with indwelling pleural catheters as compared to talc pleurodesis is reviewed. A comparison of efficacy, costs, effects on quality of life, and complications is made. Only one randomized controlled trial comparing the two is available up to date, but several are underway. We conclude that treatment for malignant pleural effusions with indwelling pleural catheters is a save, cost-effective, and patient-friendly method, with low complication rates.