Abstrakt

A pleural effusion is the result of fluid collection between the parietal and visceral pleural surfaces. The most common cause in developed countries is congestive heart failure, followed by pneumonia and malignancy. The selection of treatment as well as timing of intervention remains a debatable issue among pulmonologists and thoracic surgeons. There are several means of managing pleural effusions which include thoracostomy tube placement, medical thoracoscopy, and minimal invasive as well as open thoracotomy. The purpose of surgical therapy is to aspirate the pleural effusion, to treat the underlying disease (e.g., hematothorax, chylothorax) and to usually perform pleurodesis (e.g., malignant pleural effusion). Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) has become a more common method for treating recurrent und complex pleural effusions over the past few years. VATS offers the advantages of visual assessment of the pleural space and direct tissue sampling and it can be useful for the diagnosis of unknown pleural effusions and in the treatment of complicated pleural effusion.

Autoreninformation

Autoren

• H.-S. Hofmann^{1, 2}

Abteilungen

• ¹ Klinik für Thoraxchirurgie, Universitätsklinikum Regensburg,
• ² Klinik für Thoraxchirurgie, Krankenhaus Barmherzige Brüder, Regensburg

Adresse

Prof. Hans-Stefan Hofmann
Klinik für Thoraxchirurgie
Universitätsklinikum Regensburg
Franz-Josef-Strauß-Allee 11
93053 Regensburg
Email: [email protected]

Citation