Open AccessWhat is the significance of non‐specific pleuritis? A trick question
Author(s) -
Janssen Julius,
Maldonado Fabien,
Metintas Muzaffer
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the clinical respiratory journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.789
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 1752-699X
pISSN - 1752-6981
DOI - 10.1111/crj.12940
Subject(s) - medicine , thoracoscopy , malignant pleural effusion , etiology , pleural effusion , mesothelioma , biopsy , chest pain , disease , radiology , surgery , pathology
Abstract Non‐specific pleuritis (NSP) is defined as fibrinous or inflammatory pleuritis which cannot be attributed to a specific benign or malignant etiology. It can be diagnosed in biopsies in up to 30% of cases of exudative pleuritis after thoracoscopy, with a mean of 19.2%. In 66 out of 469 (14.2%) patients in combined series, a malignant pleural disease (mostly mesothelioma) was found during a follow‐up of at least 21 months. Most likely, a follow‐up time of 12 months is sufficient, although the current routine is a follow‐up of 2 years. Because of a benign course in 85% of patients with NSP, a repeated invasive procedure after thoracoscopy is only indicated in a limited group of patients. The most important indications for a repeated pleural biopsy are persistent chest pain, recurrent pleural effusion, radiologic findings suggestive for malignant pleural disease.