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.     

Pleural fluid pH as a predictor of survival for patients with malignant pleural effusions

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To assess the accuracy of pleural fluid (PF) pH in predicting duration of survival of patients with malignant pleural effusions. DESIGN: Analysis of patient-level data from nine sources retrieved from a MEDLINE search and correspondence with primary investigators. STUDY SELECTION: Published and unpublished studies that report PF pH values and duration of survival of patients with malignant pleural effusions. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Primary investigators supplied patient-level data (n = 417), which was examined by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, logistic regression, and survival time modeling to determine the utility of PF pH for predicting survival compared with other clinical factors. The primary investigations were graded for study design. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Median survival (n = 417) was 4.0 months: PF pH (p < 0.0039) was an independent predictor of survival duration. A PF pH test threshold < or = 7.28 had the highest accuracy for identifying poor 1-, 2-, and 3-month survivals. The predictive accuracies of PF pH (area under the ROC curve range, 0.571 to 0.662) and a PF pH-high-risk tumor (lung, soft tissues, renal, ovary, gastrointestinal, prostate, and oropharynx) model (odds ratio range, 2.91 to 6.67), however, were modest for predicting 1-, 2-, and 3-month survival. Only 54.4% and 62.7% of patients identified by PF pH < or = 7.28 or the PF pH-high-risk tumor model to die within 3 months were correctly classified. Weaknesses of the primary data were identified. CONCLUSIONS: PF pH has insufficient predictive accuracy for selecting patients for pleurodesis on the basis of estimated survival.     

High levels of tumor markers in pleural fluid correlate with poor survival in patients with adenocarcinomatous or squamous malignant effusions

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to determine whether several pleural fluid (PF) tumor markers, either alone or in combination, could be used to predict survival time of patients with malignant pleural effusion secondary to adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma.MethodsA total of 224 patients with confirmed metastatic pleural malignancies due to adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma were enrolled. PF tumor markers were determined either by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (CEA, CA 15-3, CYFRA 21-1) or microparticle enzyme immunoassay (CA 125) technologies. Cutoff points that predicted death during the first month after diagnoses, with a specificity of 60%, were selected for each marker, using receiver operating characteristic analysis.ResultsIn patients with adenocarcinomatous or squamous malignant effusion, the combination of PF CA 125 ≥ 1000 U/mL and CYFRA 21-1 ≥ 100 ng/mL predicted a lower survival (4 vs. 11.7 months, p = 0.03; and 0.3 vs. 8.4 months, p = 0.003 respectively). This tumor marker combination remained as an independent predictor of poor outcome when adjusted for age and tumor type.ConclusionHigh PF tumor marker levels identify a subgroup of patients with a shorter median survival.     

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.     

Echogenic swirling pattern as a predictor of malignant pleural effusions in patients with malignancies

OBJECTIVES: Chest ultrasonography is a useful diagnostic tool for the detection of pleural effusions of different etiologies. Our purpose was to determine whether the echogenic swirling pattern identifiable on real-time chest ultrasonographic images is a predictor of malignant pleural effusions in patients with malignancies. DESIGN: Medical records of patients undergoing chest ultrasonography in the Tri-Service General Hospital (Taiwan) between January 2000 and December 2002 were reviewed retrospectively. Patients with an echogenic swirling pattern in the pleural effusion, or with malignant diseases associated with pleural effusions, whose pleural fluids had been examined cytologically or whose pleural tissues had been examined pathologically, were enrolled in this study (n = 140). Malignant pleural effusions were defined by the presence of malignant cells in the pleural fluid identified by thoracentesis or by pleural biopsy. The echogenic swirling pattern was defined as numerous echogenic floating particles within the pleural effusion, which swirled in response to respiratory movement or heartbeat. Correlation between malignant pleural effusions and the echogenic swirling pattern was compared in patients with an underlying malignant disease. RESULTS: In patients with underlying malignancies, malignant pleural effusions were diagnosed in 81.8% of patients with a positive echogenic swirling pattern and in 48% of those with no echogenic swirling pattern. The presence of echogenic swirling was significantly more predictive of malignant pleural effusions than was the absence of echogenic swirling (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The echogenic swirling pattern is a useful predictor of possible malignant pleural effusions, and may be a good marker for malignant pleural effusions in patients with underlying malignancies.     

Instruments for quality of life assessment in patients with inflammatory bowel disease

BACKGROUND: Health-Related Quality of Life is an important measure of illness perception on the part of the patient. In this review, the current status of the Health-Related Quality of Life assessment in studies concerning inflammatory bowel disease is examined and the various instruments proposed for this purpose are considered and compared. METHODS: A search was made of the Medline database, for relevant articles since 1980. Standard criteria were used for including studies for further evaluation. RESULTS: All studies on measuring Health-Related Quality of Life in inflammatory bowel disease patients conclude that the instruments used were valid and reliable assessment tools. Valid instruments that have been proposed for the assessment of health-related quality of life are: the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire, the Rating Form of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patient Concerns, an Inflammatory Bowel Disease-specific questionnaire developed in Cleveland, the Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease Health Status Scales and a Disease-specific questionnaire developed in the University of Padova. CONCLUSIONS: Assessing health-related quality of life in inflammatory bowel disease patients is an ever-expanding practice, especially in clinical trials. The instruments that, currently, satisfy most demands for simplicity and validity are the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire, reflecting primarily disease activity, and the Rating Form of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patient Concerns which corresponds more to the psychological and social aspects of inflammatory bowel disease from the patient's point of view.     

重组人5型腺病毒胸腔灌注治疗肺癌恶性胸腔积液

目的观察重组人5型腺病毒注射液胸腔灌注对肺癌恶性胸腔积液的临床治疗效果。方法 45例肺癌恶性胸腔积液患者随机分为观察组（23例）和对照组（22例）,两组均应用微创置管胸腔闭式引流结合局部注药,观察组胸腔内局部灌注重组人5型腺病毒注射液,对照组局部灌注顺铂,观察胸腔积液控制情况、毒副反应。结果观察组胸液控制有效率为82.61%,完全缓解率47.83%;对照组有效率为40.91%,完全缓解率为18.18%,差异有统计学意义（P〈0.05）。观察组和对照组均无严重不良反应。结论胸腔内局部灌注重组人5型腺病毒注射液在有效控制肺癌恶性胸腔积液方面明显优于顺铂,值得推广应用。     

Effect of symptomatic gastroesophageal reflux disease on quality of life of patients with chronic liver disease.

Aim: Reflux esophagitis is becoming increasingly more prevalent in Japan. It has been noted that symptomatic gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and chronic liver disease may adversely affect patients' quality of life. Methods: In the present study, 238 chronic liver disease patients (151 patients with chronic hepatitis and 87 patients with liver cirrhosis) were enrolled. The diagnosis of GERD was made based on the Quality-of-Life and Utility Evaluation Survey Technology questionnaire. Health-related quality of life was evaluated using the Short Forum 36 questionnaire. Results: Symptomatic GERD was present in 31.8% (48/151) of patients with chronic hepatitis and 36.8% (32/87) of patients with liver cirrhosis. Among the chronic hepatitis group, compared to the GERD-negative group, the GERD-positive group had significantly lower scores in six domains, including "rolelimitation due to physical problem", "bodily pain", "general health perception", "vitality", "role limitation due to emotional problem", and "mental health". Among the cirrhotic group, compared to the GERD-negative group, the GERD-positive group had significantly lower scores in the "role limitation due to emotional problem" domain. Significant improvement in the "physical functioning", "bodily pain", and "general health perception" domain scores was noted in chronic hepatitis patients treated with rabeprazole. Conclusion: The QOL of chronic liver disease patients with symptomatic GERD was impaired.     

The usefulness of videothoracoscopy in survival evaluation in patients with malignant pleural effusion

Videothoracoscopy is a useful diagnostic tool in patients with suspicion of malignant pleural effusion, because of both: the high accuracy in diagnosis and the possibility of assessing the extent of pleural involvement and producing the pleurodesis. An analysis of characteristics of 110 patients with suspected pleural dissemination is presented, including final diagnosis established with the use of VTS. In patients with confirmed malignant pleural effusion following characteristics were analyzed: the extent of pleural metastatic involvement, type of the primary malignancy, possibility of re-expansion of the lung and patients survival according to the primary tumor and extent of involvement of the pleura.     

Useful tests on the pleural fluid in the management of patients with pleural effusions.

Examination of the pleural fluid is useful in establishing the etiology of a pleural effusion. Transudative pleural effusions can be differentiated from exudative pleural effusions by measuring the levels of protein and lactic acid dehydrogenase in the pleural fluid and serum. If a patient clinically appears to have a transudative pleural effusion, but the pleural fluid meets exudative criteria, demonstration that the albumin levels is more than 1.2 gm/dl higher in the serum than in the pleural fluid provides evidence that the effusion is transudative. The gross appearance of the pleural fluid should always be noted. Other tests that routinely should be obtained on exudative pleural fluids are Gram stain and cultures, cell counts and differential, glucose, amylase, lactic acid dehydrogenase, cytology, and a marker for tuberculous pleuritis. The diagnosis of tuberculous pleuritis is strongly suggested by a pleural fluid adenosine deaminase level above 45 IU/L or a gamma interferon level above 3.7 U/ml.     

Predicting mortality in patients suffering from prolonged critical illness: an assessment of four severity-of-illness measures

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Investigators have been using severity-of-illness indexes such as APACHE II (acute physiology and chronic health evaluation score II) to describe patients with prolonged critical illness. However, little is known about the utility of these indexes for this patient population. We evaluated the ability of four severity-of-illness indexes to predict mortality rates in 182 patients with prolonged critical illness. DESIGN: Retrospective inception cohort study. SETTING: A single, urban, long-term, acute-care hospital in Chicago. PATIENTS: One hundred eighty-two patients transferred from 37 acute-care hospital ICUs. Measurements and results: We assessed four indexes: the acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II, the simplified acute physiology score II, the mortality prediction model II, and the logistic organ dysfunction system using variables measured on admission to the long-term acute-care hospital ICU. We found that none of these indexes distinguished well between the patients who lived and the patients who died (area under ROC [receiver operating characteristics] curve < 0.70 for all), nor did they assign correct probabilities of death to individual patients (Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit statistics, p < 0.01 for all). CONCLUSIONS: Investigators and clinicians should use caution in using severity-of-illness measures developed for acutely ill patients to describe critically ill patients admitted to long-term care units. As clinical practice and research focus more on these latter patients, development of adequately performing severity-of-illness measures appropriate to this patient population will be needed.     

Hyaluronic acid in the pleural fluid of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma

BackgroundWe retrospectively analyzed hyaluronic acid (HA) concentrations in pleural fluid and evaluated its utility for the differential diagnosis of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM).MethodsPleural fluid HA concentrations were measured in 334 patients, including 50, 48, 85, 18, 86, 6, and 41 patients with MPM, benign asbestos pleurisy (BAP), lung cancer (LC), other malignant conditions (OMCs), infectious pleuritis (IP), collagen disease (CD), and other conditions, respectively.ResultsThe median (range) HA concentrations in pleural fluid were 78,700 (7920–2,630,000) ng/ml in the MPM group, 35,950 (900–152,000) ng/ml in the BAP group, 19,500 (2270–120,000) ng/ml in the LC group, 14,200 (900–101,000) ng/ml in the OMC group, 23,000 (900–230,000) ng/ml in the IP group, 24,600 (9550–80,800) ng/ml in the CD group, and 8140 (900–67,800) ng/ml in the other diseases group. HA levels were significantly higher in the MPM group than in the other groups. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed an area under the ROC curve value of 0.832 (95% confidence interval, 0.765–0.898) for the differential diagnosis of MPM. With a cutoff value of 100,000 ng/ml, the sensitivity and specificity were 44.0 and 96.5%, respectively. In the MPM group, HA values were significantly higher for the epithelioid subtype than for the sarcomatous subtype (p=0.007), and higher in earlier stages (I and II) than in advanced stages (III and IV) (p=0.007).ConclusionsA diagnosis of MPM should be strongly considered in patients with pleural fluid HA concentrations exceeding 100,000 ng/ml.     

中心静脉导管在老年肿瘤患者胸腹腔积液治疗中的应用

目的　将中心静脉导管用于引流老年病人恶性胸、腹腔积液患者 ,评价其有效性及安全性。　 方法　中心静脉导管引流组 (2 6例 )在超声标记下置入 16G中心静脉导管引流 ,传统胸、腹腔穿剌术引流组 (2 0例 )采用传统胸、腹腔穿刺术引流。　 结果 　导管引流组引流后第 1d和 7d内累计引流液体量分别为 (75 2± 3 5 8)ml ,(3 3 61± 869)ml;穿刺引流组第 1d和 7d内引流液体量分别为 (62 2± 112 )ml ,(2 3 11± 5 64 )ml。第 1d内 2种方法引流液体量及呼吸困难或腹胀等症状缓解情况比较无显著差异 ,引流 7d后 2种方法引流液体量及症状缓解情况差异显著。引流后导管引流组并发症发生率显著低于穿刺引流组。　 结论　中心静脉导管用于老年恶性胸、腹腔积液患者的引流治疗 ,疗效满意 ,并发症发生率低 ,具有较高的安全性 ,可以减少病人的痛苦。     

慢性阻塞性肺疾病患者生活质量评估方法的研究进展

健康相关生活质量量表对于慢性阻塞性肺疾病患者生活质量的评估起着非常重要的作用.迄今为止,相关学者已相继研发了许多种量表.COPD评估测试不仅简便短小,而且拥有与以往复杂问卷相似的评估能力,值得在全球推广.