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Secondary Neoplastic Pleural Effusion

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Practical Manual of Pleural Pathology

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Abstract

From 42% to 77% of the exudative pleural effusions that come to our attention are neoplastic. Most of these effusions are metastatic and in particular derive from tumours of the lung (37.5%), breast tumours (16.8%), lymphomas (11.5%), genitourinary tract tumours (9.4%) and gastrointestinal tract tumours (6.9%). The prognosis in patients with neoplastic effusion is poor.

Pleural effusion dramatically affects the patient's quality of life, and for this reason, it is important to consider not only the diagnostic aspect, but also the therapeutic methods (for instance, pleurodesis with talc) to limit or to reduce the pleural fluid formation. The BTS guidelines (Hooper et al., Thorax 65(Suppl 2):4–17, 2010) emphasise that thoracoscopy is the investigation of choice in a pleural effusion in which cytology is not conclusive and a tumour is suspected.

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  1. Parma, Italy

    Angelo G. Casalini

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    Angelo G. Casalini

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Casalini, A.G. (2023). Secondary Neoplastic Pleural Effusion. In: Casalini, A.G. (eds) Practical Manual of Pleural Pathology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20312-1_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20312-1_6

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