The management of benign non-infective pleural effusions.

The evidence base concerning the management of benign pleural effusions has lagged behind that of malignant pleural effusions in which recent randomised trials are now informing current clinical practice and international guidelines.The causes of benign pleural effusions are broad, heterogenous and patients may benefit from individualised management targeted at both treating the underlying disease process and direct management of the fluid. Pleural effusions are very common in a number of non-malignant pathologies, such as decompensated heart failure, and following coronary artery bypass grafting. Pleural fluid analysis forms an important basis of the diagnostic evaluation, and more specific assays and imaging modalities are helpful in specific subpopulations.Options for management beyond treatment of the underlying disorder, whenever possible, include therapeutically aspirating the fluid, talc pleurodesis and insertion of an indwelling pleural catheter. Randomised trials will inform clinicians in the future as to the risks and benefits of these options providing a guide as to how best to manage patient symptoms in this challenging clinical setting.

Primary spontaneous pneumothorax: a cohort study of VATS with talc poudrage.

BACKGROUND: Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is an increasingly common treatment for recurrent or persistent primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP). Surgery usually involves diffuse treatment of the pleura and possible targeted therapy to areas of bullous disease. The purpose of this large cohort study was to examine incidence of recurrence after VATS and identify predictors of outcome. METHODS: Patients undergoing VATS for PSP at a single centre between 2000 and 2012 were prospectively enrolled. All patients underwent talc poudrage. Targeted surgical techniques were used based on presence of air leak and Vanderschueren's stage. Patients had clinical and radiological follow-up for at least 2 years (median 8.5 years). RESULTS: 1415 patients with PSP underwent VATS with talc poudrage. The most frequent indications were recurrent pneumothorax (92.2%) and persistent air leak (6.5%). The complication rate was 2.0% of which 1.7% was prolonged air leak. There was no mortality. Median length of stay was 5 days. Recurrent pneumothorax occurred in 26 patients (1.9%). At the time of surgery, 592 patients smoked (43%) and they had a significantly higher incidence of recurrence (24/575, 4.2%) than non-smokers (2/805, 0.2%), p<0.001. The incidence of recurrence in those undergoing bullae suturing (3.8%, n=260) was significant higher than those undergoing poudrage alone (0.3%, p=0.036). CONCLUSION: The marked difference in recurrence between smokers and non-smokers suggests this as an important predictor of outcome. This study demonstrates a low incidence of recurrence and complications for patients with PSP undergoing VATS with talc poudrage. Talc poudrage requires prospective comparison with pleurectomy and mechanical abrasion.

Unilateral Pleural Effusions with More Than One Apparent Etiology. A Prospective Observational Study.

RATIONALE: Evaluation of a pleural effusion has historically focused on establishing a single etiology. Pleural fluid may accumulate through multiple pathophysiological processes. The prevalence of multiple causes for pleural effusions has not been established. The identification of contributing processes may improve clinical outcomes. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this prospectively collected case series was to establish the prevalence and nature of multiple etiologies for a unilateral pleural effusion. METHODS: Consecutive patients presenting with an undiagnosed unilateral pleural effusion were recruited at a tertiary pleural center. Patients underwent a comprehensive structured diagnostic clinical evaluation and were followed up for a minimum of 12 months, after which one or more diagnoses were recorded independently by two experienced clinicians. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: One hundred thirty patients were recruited to the study over a 24-month period, and 126 patients completed follow up. Altogether, 88 patients (70%) had a single cause for their pleural effusion, and 38 (30%) had multiple causes. Serum N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-pro BNP) greater than or equal to 1,500 pg/ml was predictive of multiple etiologies. NT-pro BNP had a sensitivity and specificity of 79 and 88%, respectively, for establishing heart failure as a primary or contributory cause. Thirteen patients with a malignant pleural effusion also had an NT-pro BNP greater than or equal to 1,500 pg/ml. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first to estimate the prevalence of more than one identifiable cause for a unilateral pleural effusion. Out of 130 study subjects, 38 (30%) had multiple causes for an effusion. The identification of multiple pathologies underlying an accumulation of fluid in the pleural space may be important in determining optimum treatment and improving patients' symptoms.

Lung Parenchymal Assessment in Primary and Secondary Pneumothorax.

RATIONALE: The definition of primary spontaneous pneumothorax excludes patients with known lung disease; however, the assumption that the underlying lung is normal in these patients is increasingly contentious. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to assess lung structure and compare the extent of emphysema in patients with primary versus secondary spontaneous pneumothorax and to patients with no pneumothorax in an otherwise comparable control group. METHODS: We identified patients treated for pneumothorax by screening inpatient and outpatient medical records at one medical center in the United Kingdom. From this group, 20 patients had no clinically apparent underlying lung disease and were classified as having a primary spontaneous pneumothorax, and 20 patients were classified as having a secondary spontaneous pneumothorax. We assembled a control group composed of 40 subjects matched for age and smoking history who had a unilateral pleural effusion or were suspected to have a thoracic malignancy and had a chest computed tomography scan suitable for quantitative analysis. Demographics and smoking histories were collected. Quantitative evaluation of low-attenuation areas of the lung on computed tomography imaging was performed using semiautomated software, and the extent of emphysema-like destruction was assessed visually. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The extent of emphysema and percentage of low-attenuation areas was greater for patients with primary spontaneous pneumothorax than for control subjects matched for age and smoking history (median, 0.25 vs. 0.00%; P = 0.019) and was also higher for patients with secondary pneumothorax than those with primary spontaneous pneumothorax (16.15 vs. 0.25%, P < 0.001). Patients with primary pneumothorax who smoked had significantly greater low-attenuation area than patients with primary pneumothorax who were nonsmokers (0.7 vs. 0.1%, P = 0.034). CONCLUSIONS: The majority of patients with primary spontaneous pneumothorax had quantifiable evidence of parenchymal destruction and emphysema. The exclusion of patients with underlying lung disease from the definition of primary spontaneous pneumothorax should be reappraised.

Predicting survival in malignant pleural effusion: development and validation of the LENT prognostic score.

BACKGROUND: Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) causes debilitating breathlessness and predicting survival is challenging. This study aimed to obtain contemporary data on survival by underlying tumour type in patients with MPE, identify prognostic indicators of overall survival and develop and validate a prognostic scoring system. METHODS: Three large international cohorts of patients with MPE were used to calculate survival by cell type (univariable Cox model). The prognostic value of 14 predefined variables was evaluated in the most complete data set (multivariable Cox model). A clinical prognostic scoring system was then developed and validated. RESULTS: Based on the results of the international data and the multivariable survival analysis, the LENT prognostic score (pleural fluid lactate dehydrogenase, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance score (PS), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and tumour type) was developed and subsequently validated using an independent data set. Risk stratifying patients into low-risk, moderate-risk and high-risk groups gave median (IQR) survivals of 319 days (228-549; n=43), 130 days (47-467; n=129) and 44 days (22-77; n=31), respectively. Only 65% (20/31) of patients with a high-risk LENT score survived 1 month from diagnosis and just 3% (1/31) survived 6 months. Analysis of the area under the receiver operating curve revealed the LENT score to be superior at predicting survival compared with ECOG PS at 1 month (0.77 vs 0.66, p<0.01), 3 months (0.84 vs 0.75, p<0.01) and 6 months (0.85 vs 0.76, p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The LENT scoring system is the first validated prognostic score in MPE, which predicts survival with significantly better accuracy than ECOG PS alone. This may aid clinical decision making in this diverse patient population.