Register for email alerts and news feeds:
This journal | BMJ Group
rss
Published 25 May 2009
Cite this as: BMJ Case Reports 2009 [doi:10.1136/bcr.09.2008.0973]
Copyright © 2009 by the BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.

Reminder of important clinical lesson

Pleural effusion: what lies underneath?

L Vaz Rodrigues1, J Raposo2, C Mendonça1, A Figueiredo1, F Barata1, M Meruje2, J Pires1

1 Department of Pulmonology, Centro Hospitalar de Coimbra, EPE, Quinta dos Vales, S. Martinho do Bispo, Coimbra, Portugal
2 Department of Surgical Pathology, Centro Hospitalar de Coimbra, EPE, Quinta dos Vales, S. Martinho do Bispo, Coimbra, Portugal

Correspondence to:
L Vaz Rodrigues, luis.vaz.rodrigues{at}gmail.com

SUMMARY

Malignant mesothelioma is a tumour of serous surfaces mainly arising at the pleura or the peritoneum. The diagnosis encompasses multiple problems as there is no pathognomonic hallmark for the disease, there are multiple histological types and the differentiation from other tumours, such as adenocarcinoma or metastatic pleural disease, can represent quite a challenge. Usually a diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma carries a dismal prognosis with scarce therapeutical options.

The present report concerns a patient with a diagnosis of malignant pleural mesothelioma with endobronchial extension. Biopsy specimens were obtained through fibreoptic bronchoscopy and blind needle pleural biopsy. The final diagnosis was only possible after careful histological evaluation with a combination of immunohistochemical markers.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?

This Article

Services
Citing Articles
Google Scholar
PubMed
Topic Collections
Bookmark with

Register for free content

The full text of all Editor's Choice articles and summaries of every article are free without registration

The full text of Images in ... articles are free to registered users

Only fellows can access the full text of case reports (apart from Editor's Choice) -   become a fellow  today, or encourage your institution to, so that together we can grow and develop this resource

Don't forget to sign up for content alerts  so you keep up to date with all the case reports as they are published, and let us know what you think by commenting on the Editor's blog