Malignant pleural effusion: individual management according to clinical presentation

Abstract

Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) patients have advanced neoplasms with bad prognosis and low response of systemic therapy. When symptomatic, a palliative treatment is mandatory in order to offer comfort and quality of life to these patients. Several options are available, as ambulatory procedures and video assisted thoracic surgery. The clinical efficacy of these methods is a matter of debate and subject of many papers. Because of the high variety of clinical presentations, no single method should be considered as a gold standard procedure, rather the management should be individualized considering the performance status and clinical condition of the patient. We reviewed the options described in the literature for the treatment ofMPE and proposed an individualized management strategy for these patients according totheir clinical presentation.