THORACOSCOPY AND PLEURODESIS IN MALIGNANT PLEURAL EFFUSION

Abstract

Perplexing pleural effusion is still a major diagnostic and hence thrapeutic proplem in pulmonary medicine. Although limited thoracotomy is the most reliable method of obtaining representative tissue; but has mortality risk and significant morbidity rate. so, the role of thoracoscopic examination to solve this problem was the driving force for us to perform this work. It was aimed to investigate the value of thoracoscopy as a diagnostic procedure in unexplained pleural effusion, in comparison to the yielded results of pleural fluid cytology.

Malignant pleural effusion is a common complication of malignant diseases and it is a significant cause of morbidity in patients with advanced cancer. Although the quantity of patients lives is more often determind by the progress of their systemic cancer, the quality of their lives can be improved significantly by successful management of their effusions.

Twenty patients with malignant pleural effusions were included in this study. They were 14 males and 6 females. Their age ranged from 38 to 65 years.