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Review
. 2009 Dec;41(3):186-93.

Malignant pleural effusions: appropriate treatment approaches

Yener Aydin  1 , Atila Turkyilmaz  2 , Yavuz Selim Intepe  3 , Atilla Eroglu  2
Affiliations
Review

Malignant pleural effusions: appropriate treatment approaches

Yener Aydin et al. Eurasian J Med. 2009 Dec.

Abstract
in English, Turkish

Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is a common and important clinical condition. A complication in many types of tumors, its presence indicates the onset of the terminal stages of cancer. Dyspnea is the most common symptom of MPE. The most common underlying tumors are lymphomas and cancers of the lung, breast and ovaries, which account for 75% of cases. The diagnosis of MPE can be established by the presence of malignant cells in the pleural fluid or tissue. Median survival in these patients ranges from 3 to 12 months, with the shortest survival period presenting in lung cancer patients. The aim of MPE therapeutic approaches should be effective treatment and a short hospital stay. There are many different treatment options for patients who suffer from MPE, including serial thoracentesis, tube thoracostomy, pleurodesis, long term pleural catheter, pleuroperitoneal shunt, decortication, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The choice of therapy is determined based on a patient's clinical situation as well as the underlying disease. Today, intercostal tube insertion and chemical pleurodesis are the most commonly prescribed treatment modalities.

Malign plevral effüzyon (MPE) sık görülen ve önemli bir klinik durumdur. Kanser hastalarında terminal dönemin bir göstergesidir. En sık semptom dispnedir. Etiyolojide en sık akciğer kanseri, meme kanseri, lenfoma ve over kanseri yer almakta olup tüm MPE olgularının %75’ini oluşturur. MPE tanısı plevral mayide veya plevra dokusunda malign hücreler görüldüğünde konulabilir. Bu hastalarda ortalama yaşam beklentisi 3–12 ay arasında değişmekte olup en az yaşam beklentisi olan akciğer kanserli hastalardır. Terapotik yaklaşımda amaç etkili tedavi ve kısa hastane yatış süresi olmalıdır. Seri torasentez, tüp torakostomi, plörodez, kalıcı plevral kateter, plöroperitoneal şant, dekortikasyon, kemoterapi ve radyoterapi gibi farklı tedavi modaliteleri kullanılmakta olup, tedavi seçeneği hastanın klinik durumu ve altta hastalığa bağlı olarak değişmektedir. Günümüzde en sık kullanılan tedavi seçeneği göğüs tüpü yerleştirilmesi ve kimyasal plörodezdir.

Keywords: Diagnosis; Malignant pleural effusions; Treatment.

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