title: Sonography of malignant pleural effusion.
abstract: Two hundred and ten patients with exudative pleural effusion were studied by ultrasound for sonographic signs of pleural carcinomatosis. Images were evaluated for echoes within the fluid, septations, sheet-like or nodular pleural masses, and associated lesions of the lung. Our results showed that sonographic findings of echogenic or septated fluid were unspecific for malignancy. Only the evidence of pleural masses was characteristic of malignant effusion. Ultrasound of the chest should therefore be carried out before invasive diagnostic procedures are planned.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Philipps University, Baldingerstrasse, D-25 033 Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Görg
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Restrepo
authors.forename: W B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Schwerk
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016066:Pleural Effusion, Malignant / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D010997:Pleural Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014463:Ultrasonography