ABSTRACT
A 38 year old woman with a medical history of left pleurectomy and thoracic duct ligation for a recurrent chylothorax at age 21 was hospitalized for evaluation and treatment of a right sided pleural effusion and a pericardial effusion. A diffuse pulmonary lymphangiomatosis was diagnosed based on evidence obtained from a thoracic CT scan and from pleural and pericardial biopsies. The patient underwent drainage of these effusions and received systemic corticosteroids. Although both effusions initially recurred and required subsequent drainage and treatment by colchicine, evolution at 19 months of diagnosis is favorable. This case illustrates the fact that the prognosis of diffuse pulmonary lymphangiomatosis in adults may be characterized by a less aggressive evolution and by a more favorable prognosis than that observed in children.
