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Diagnostic value of radiological imaging pre‐ and post‐drainage of pleural effusions
Author(s) -
Corcoran John P.,
Acton Louise,
Ahmed Asia,
Hallifax Robert J.,
Psallidas Ioannis,
Wrightson John M.,
Rahman Najib M.,
Gleeson Fergus V.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
respirology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.857
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1440-1843
pISSN - 1323-7799
DOI - 10.1111/resp.12675
Subject(s) - medicine , radiology , radiological weapon , pleural effusion , thoracoscopy , drainage , effusion , medical imaging , computed tomography , retrospective cohort study , clinical practice , tomography , surgery , ecology , family medicine , biology
Patients with an unexplained pleural effusion often require urgent investigation. Clinical practice varies due to uncertainty as to whether an effusion should be drained completely before diagnostic imaging. We performed a retrospective study of patients undergoing medical thoracoscopy for an unexplained effusion. In 110 patients with paired (pre‐ and post‐drainage) chest X‐rays and 32 patients with paired computed tomography scans, post‐drainage imaging did not provide additional information that would have influenced the clinical decision‐making process.