Open heart surgery in an otherwise fit man was the start of 9 admissions in 6 months and a clinical course dominated by recurrent pleural effusion, dependent oedema and eventually a severe infection.

Background A malignant pleural effusion (MPE) can be associated with debilitating dyspnoea. Determining optimal surgical management involves balancing the quality of palliation, degree of short-term ...

Pleural disease The most common thoracic manifestation of SLE is pleuritis. 3 10 Pleuritic pain is present in 45–60% of patients and may occur with or without a pleural effusion (fig1). 3 Clinically ...