Malignant pleural mesothelioma with resolution of pleural effusion

Our plain-English summary of Malignant pleural mesothelioma with resolution of pleural effusion, by S. Nishida, K. Toriyama, M. Yomota, et al (Respirology Case Reports, 2023).

The study

• Authors: S. Nishida, K. Toriyama, M. Yomota, Y. Hosomi
• Journal: Respirology Case Reports
• Published: 2023;11(11):e01234
• Cited by: 1 article, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

In malignant pleural mesothelioma patients, pleural effusion may improve during the course of the disease. Pleural effusion with nodular shadows bordering the pleura should be followed up even if the pleural effusion improves.

© 2023 The Authors. Respirology Case Reports published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of The Asian Pacific Society of Respirology.

In plain English

This short clinical image report describes one patient; it shows what happened to a single person, not a rate of disease. A 69-year-old man with no symptoms and a 40 pack-year smoking history was seen at the authors' Tokyo hospital after a chest x-ray showed fluid around the right lung (right pleural effusion). CT showed the effusion and a nodular shadow bordering the pleura. Three months later the fluid had apparently cleared on x-ray, and his visits ended. He later returned when an x-ray showed an abnormal shadow in the upper right lung; CT found multiple nodular papillary growths in the right pleura and no fluid. A surgical lung biopsy led to a diagnosis of epithelioid malignant pleural mesothelioma. He had lived near an asbestos factory as a child. The authors described a benign nodule and pleural effusion caused by asbestos, and considered it possible that the nodule became malignant and turned into mesothelioma. They concluded that pleural effusion with nodular shadows bordering the pleura should be followed up even if the effusion improves.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: case report (clinical image report of a single patient)
• Who was studied: One 69-year-old man with no symptoms and a 40 pack-year smoking history, first seen 4 years before the report at a hospital in Tokyo, Japan, after a chest x-ray found a right pleural effusion
• Exposure: Lived near an asbestos factory as a child. No fiber type, dose or occupational exposure is given.
• Main results:
  • At the first visit, the patient had no symptoms. Chest x-ray showed a right pleural effusion, and CT showed a nodular shadow bordering the pleura.
  • Three months later, the pleural effusion had apparently resolved on chest x-ray, and the patient's consultation was ended.
  • When the patient returned, chest CT found multiple nodular papillary growths in the right pleura and no pleural effusion.
  • Epithelioid malignant pleural mesothelioma was diagnosed from surgical lung biopsy findings.
  • In this patient, the pleural effusion improved at an early stage of the disease.
  • The authors described the patient as having a benign nodule and pleural effusion caused by asbestos. They considered it possible that the nodule became malignant and turned into pleural mesothelioma.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that pleural effusion with nodular shadows bordering the pleura should be followed up even if the pleural effusion improves.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Pleural Mesothelioma, Pleural Effusion, Pleura.

Related studies

• Rounded atelectasis due to acute exudative effusion. Spontaneous resolution — L.S. Smith, R.F. Schillaci (1984)
• Asbestos-related pleural and parenchymal fibrosis: detection with high-resolution CT — D.R. Aberle, G. Gamsu, et al. (1988)
• High-resolution CT of benign asbestos-related diseases: clinical and radiographic correlation — D.R. Aberle, G. Gamsu, et al. (1988)
• High resolution computed tomography and lung function in asbestos-exposed workers with normal chest radiographs — C.A. Staples, G. Gamsu, et al. (1989)
• Asbestosis: high-resolution CT-pathologic correlation — M. Akira, S. Yamamoto, et al. (1990)
• Costal pleura: appearances at high-resolution CT — J.G. Im, W.R. Webb, et al. (1989)

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