Medical thoracoscopy in the diagnosis and treatment of malignant pleural effusion

Objective To study the clinical application of medical thoracoscopy to the diagnosis and treatment of malignant pleural effusions.Methods Medical thoracoscopy and pathological biopsy were used to diagnose the patients with malignant pleural effusions.Talc poudrage pleurodesis was performed under medical thoracoscopy and efficacy and complications of the treatment were evaluated.Results Of the 69 patients with malignant pleural effusions,58 were diagnosed as lung cancer(41 adenocarcinoma,8 squamous cel1 carcinoma,5 small cell carcinoma,4 adenosquamous cell carcinoma),3 mesothelioma,3 adenocarcinoma of colon and rectum,2 breast cancer,1 thymoma,1 leiomyosarcoma and 1 lymphocytic lymphoma.The diagnostic yield was 88.5%(69/78).Thirty-six patients with malignant pleural effusion underwent medical thoracoscopic talc poudrage pleurodesis.The average duration of thoracic tubing was 5.6(2-13) days.The total effective rate was 91.7%(33/36).The major complications were chest pain 80.6%(29/36) and fever 44.4%(16/36).Conclusion Medical thoracoscopy is an important diagnosis method for malignant pleural effusions,talc poudrage pleurodesis is a safe and effective treatment of malignant pleural effusions.