ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Minerva Chirurgica 1999 January-February;54(1-2):11-4

Copyright © 1998 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Videothoracoscopy in the diagnosis of pleural effusions

Cataldi M., Bianchi M.

Background. At present videothoracoscopy is a primary diagnostic procedure in the diagnosis of pleural diseases, particularly when pleural effusions have unknown origin.
Methods. In this article the personal experience is reported about 20 patients in which videothoracoscopy was very important in the diagnosis of pleural effusions.
Results. Thoracoscopy permits to explore the thoracic cavity and to do a lot of biopsies. Videothoracoscopy, made it possible to diagnose 10 cases of malignant mesothelioma, 2 cases of pleural metastases (renal mts and mammary mts) and 8 cases of inflammatory diseases.
Conclusions. At last, is laid on the contribution of videothoracoscopy to determine the stage of malignant mesothelioma.