Chylous ascites and chylothorax: a case study

Mehta, Asmita; Gupta, Richa; Thangakunam, Balamugesh; Christopher, Devasahayam Jesudas

doi:10.3402/ljm.v5i0.5298

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…Two other cases that reported chylous effusion and signet cell adenocarcinoma are not included in this analysis as the primary cause was unknown. [ 18 19 ] One case with lymphedema, pleural effusion and gastric adenocarcinoma was also excluded as the pleural fluid characteristics confirming chylothorax were not available. [ 20 ] An additional 2883 references were excluded due to reasons such as (1) chylothorax not associated with gastric carcinoma, (2) studies in the pediatric population, (3) chylothorax was a post-operative complication and (4) published in languages other than English.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chylothorax in gastric adenocarcinoma: A case report and systematic review of the English literature

Devaraj¹,

Ramachandran²,

Correa³

2014

Lung India

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Background:Chylothorax is a rare complication of gastric adenocarcinoma and data on its identification, prevalence and outcomes are scant.Objectives:To enable identification of gastric carcinoma as a cause of chylothorax.Methods:A case report and a systematic review were conducted of all reported cases of gastric adenocarcinoma with chylothorax as the presenting complaint in the English literature.Results:Chylothorax is a rare presenting complaint of gastric adenocarcinoma. There are only 18 case reports in the world literature, of which six are in English. Chylothorax occurred variably in gastric adenocarcinoma, either as a presenting feature or as a complication of therapy. Here, we analyze the index case and six patients in whom gastric carcinoma presented with chylothorax as the initial symptom. Respiratory features of cough and dyspnea preempted any abdominal complaint. Bilateral chylothorax (66%) with associated chylous ascites (50%) was common. Four of the six patients had skin lymphedema also as a prominent feature. The chylothoraces have been treated by therapeutic pleurocentesis, intercoastal tube drainage and restriction of oral intake. Gastric adenocarcinoma was associated with high mortality (50%) and morbidity.Conclusions:Chylothorax can be the presenting feature of gastric adenocarcinoma. A thorough search for this life-threatening disease should be done before labeling the chylothorax as idiopathic.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%