Publikation

[Value of thoracoscopy and talc pleurodesis in diagnosis and palliative treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma]

Wissenschaftlicher Artikel/Review - 04.03.1998

Bereiche
PubMed

Zitation
Charvat J, Brutsche M, Frey J, Tschopp J. [Value of thoracoscopy and talc pleurodesis in diagnosis and palliative treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma]. Praxis 1998; 87:336-40.
Art
Wissenschaftlicher Artikel/Review (Deutsch)
Zeitschrift
Praxis 1998; 87
Veröffentlichungsdatum
04.03.1998
ISSN (Druck)
1661-8157
Seiten
336-40
Kurzbeschreibung/Zielsetzung

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) remains a disease of very poor prognosis despite all new therapeutic approaches. We describe here 13 cases with MPM. The main symptoms at presentation were dyspnea (12/13) followed by weight loss (7/13), cough (3/13) and thoracic pain (2/13). On chest X-ray, all patients had pleural effusion associated with pleural thickening in 8/13 cases (62%). A definitive diagnosis was brought by thoracoscopy in 11/12 cases (diagnostic sensitivity 92%). In one patient, thoracoscopy was technically impracticable because of very important obesity. By thoracoscopic talc pleurodesis, we were able to control the pleural effusion in all patients with suppression of dyspnea (11). The mean survival after diagnosis was 6.8 +/- 5.0 months (range 1-16). At the present time, we believe that thoracoscopy is well indicated in any suspicion of MPM not only for diagnosis but also for palliative treatment of this pleural disease. However, there is a need for well controlled studies to improve the outcome of MPM.