title: Massive hemothorax secondary to metastatic renal carcinoma.
abstract: We present the case of a 78-year-old man with a past history of nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma who was brought to the emergency room in hypovolemic shock after suddenly collapsing at home. A chest roentgenogram taken on admission showed a large pleural effusion on the right with a mediastinal shift to the left. A contrast computed tomographic scan of his chest excluded aortic dissection. An emergency right thoracotomy was performed, which revealed a chest wall tumor that was bleeding profusely. The tumor was biopsied after the bleeding was controlled. The histologic report revealed metastatic renal cell carcinoma, which is a rare cause for a spontaneous massive hemothorax.
authors.affiliation: Lancashire Cardiac Centre, Victoria Hospital, Whinney Heys Road, Blackpool, Lancashire, United Kingdom. karenchetcuti212@yahoo.co.uk
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chetcuti
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barnard
authors.forename: Spiros
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Loggos
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hassan
authors.forename: Vivek
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Srivastava
authors.forename: Faisal
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mourad
authors.forename: Zyad
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Makhzoum
authors.forename: Mohamad N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Bittar
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000150:complications* / Q000556:secondary*; D006491:Hemothorax / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D013899:Thoracic Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000556:secondary*; D035441:Thoracic Wall