The current aetiology of malignant pleural effusion in the Western Cape Province, South Africa
Date
2018-04
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Health & Medical Publishing Group
Abstract
Background: Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) represents a very common cause of pleural exudates, and is one of the most challenging pleural disorders to manage. This could be attributed to the paucity of high-quality experimental evidence, and inconsistent practice worldwide. South Africa (SA) currently has no data regarding the aetiology of MPE.
Objectives: To identify the most common malignancies causing MPE in a population served by a large tertiary hospital in SA, and specifically the relative contribution of mesothelioma. A secondary objective was to evaluate the efficacy of chemical pleurodesis in a subset of patients.
Methods: We retrospectively included all known cases of MPE evaluated at our institution over a 3-year period with a tissue diagnosis of MPE.
Results: The most common causes of MPE in a total of 274 patients were lung cancer (n=174, 63.5%), breast cancer (n=32, 11.7%), unknown primary (n=22, 11.7%) and mesothelioma (n=27, 9.9%). Talc pleurodesis was performed in 81 of 194 patients (41.8%) referred to our division, and was radiologically successful in 22 of 25 (88.0%) followed up to 3 months.
Conclusions: The main cause of MPE in our setting was lung cancer, followed by breast cancer, unknown primary and mesothelioma. Chemical pleurodesis was a viable palliative measure for MPE in this population.
Description
CITATION: Koegelenberg, C. F. N. et al. 2018. The current aetiology of malignant pleural effusion in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. South African Medical Journal, 108(4):275-277, doi:10.7196/SAMJ.2018.v108i4.12914.
The original publication is available at http://www.samj.org.za
The original publication is available at http://www.samj.org.za
Keywords
Pleural effusions, Lung cancer, Mesothelioma, Malignant tumors
Citation
Koegelenberg, C. F. N. et al. 2018. The current aetiology of malignant pleural effusion in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. South African Medical Journal, 108(4):275-277, doi:10.7196/SAMJ.2018.v108i4.12914.