Yield of Video Assisted Thoracoscopy in Undiagnosed Pleural Effusions in South Indian Population
Journal Title: Journal of Medical Science And clinical Research - Year 2015, Vol 3, Issue 8
Abstract
Pleural effusion of unknown etiology is a real diagnostic challenge for clinicians. Up to 75% of effusions are diagnosed with simple diagnostic thoracentesis but cause of a pleural effusion is not evident following diagnostic thoracentesis in up to 25 percent of patients. Medical thoracoscopy 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. Aims and objective: To study the yield of video assisted thoracoscopy in cases of pleural effusion where all the other diagnostic modalities failed to give a definite diagnosis. Materials and Methods: Analysis of thoracoscopic procedures performed for undiagnosed pleural effusion cases between March 2002 to Feb. 2010 at Chest Hospital. Yield of thoracoscopic pleural biopsy for achieving a diagnosis in undiagnosed pleural effusions, was evaluated. Complications of thoracoscopy were also analyzed. Results: A total of 84 patients met the study criteria and were included. Diagnostic yield of Zthoracoscopic pleural biopsy was 100%. Pleural malignancy was diagnosed in 73.8% of patients. There were only 4 cases of mesothelioma and the rest were of pleural metastasis. Lung cancer was the most common cause of primary malignancy. Adenocarcinoma being the most common type. Tuberculosis was diagnosed in 26.2% of patients. No major complications after thoracoscopy were observed. Most common minor complication observed was pain (35.7%). Conclusion: Video assisted thoracoscopy is a safe procedure and has excellent diagnostic yield in patients with undiagnosed pleural effusions.
Authors and Affiliations
M. Umar Majid
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP212259
- DOI -
- Views 62
- Downloads 0
Case Report: Acute Chordae Tendineae Rupture and Mitral Regurgitation in Pregnancy
A 29 year old woman complained of breathlessness, chest pain and palpitations at 36 weeks of gestation. A pansystolic murmur alongwith bilateral basal crepitations were heard on auscultation. Echocardiography revealed a...
Silent Brain Infarcts in Patients with Non-Specific Neurological Symptoms: 1-Year Cross-Sectional Study
Background: Silent brain infarctions are considered as a preclinical warning of symptomatic strokes and multiple deep infarct-relatedbrain damage.Limitation of studies on risk factors and non-specific neurological sympto...
Study of Macular Thickness Using Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography in Healthy Indian Subjects
Purpose: To generate normative data for SD-OCT (Topcon 3D OCT 2000) estimated macular thickness in Indian eyes and establish its relation with age sex and refractive error. Materials and methods: In this cross sectional...
A Case Report of Recurrent Foreign Body Sensation in Throat-Unusal Long Uvula
Recurrent foreign body sensation in throat is a distressing symptom for patients in routine ENT opd practice. Investigations of this patient with recuurent foreign body sensation can be simple or complex depending on the...
Cardiovascular disorders in Diabetes
Individuals with diabetes mellitus, both NIDDM and IDDM are at an increased risk for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality compared to non-diabetic subjects. The cardiac dysfunction in diabetes can be broadly classified...