Extract
Pleural effusion is a common diagnostic and therapeutic challenge [1, 2]. Malignant pleural effusion (MPE), in particular, often necessitates fluid drainage with chest tubes for symptom control [3, 4] and its diagnosis requires cyto-histological assessment of pleural fluid or tissue biopsies [2].
Abstract
Clump material often blocks up chest tubes and are discarded as waste. This first study to characterise these clumps found they consist of fibrin frequently admixed with entrapped inflammatory and malignant cells and can add useful diagnostic information. https://bit.ly/2TjNs8Y
Footnotes
Conflict of interest: A. Louw has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: C. Sidhu has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: D.B. Fitzgerald has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: J. Creaney reports grants from National Health and Medical Research Council and Insurance Commission of Western Australia, during the conduct of the study.
Conflict of interest: S. Chai has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Y.C.G. Lee has nothing to disclose.
Support statement: A. Louw is supported by an iCARE Dust Disease Board PhD scholarship. Y.C.G. Lee is a Medical Research Future Fund Practitioner Fellow. Funding information for this article has been deposited with the Crossref Funder Registry.
- Received August 27, 2020.
- Accepted October 19, 2020.
- Copyright ©ERS 2021
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