Contarini Syndrome Resulting From Ovarian Carcinoma

A case study on Contarini’s syndrome: A rare case due to autoimmune disorders

“…Bilateral pleural effusions are usually caused by a single factor, such as congestive cardiac failure or malignant diseases. [ 1 ] However, Contarini’s syndrome is an exceptional case characterized by bilateral pleural effusion of different etiologies with different fluid characteristics of the lungs. [ 2 ] In this case, bilateral diagnostic thoracentesis is performed because the patient is devoid of any underlying causes.…”

Contarini's syndrome: Bilateral pleural effusion, each side from different causes

“…There were only 5 (0.9%) patients who had bilateral effusions of different etiologies which, added to an additional 7 patients identified via literature review, [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] totaled 12 cases. Their characteristics are summarized in Table 1.…”

“…However, it should be noted that 4 of the 7 previously reported cases were described as the concurrence of chylothorax and malignant effusion. [3][4][5]7 This combination may result from a common causative factor (ie, lymphoma or metastatic carcinoma), thus bringing into question their status as valid examples of Contarini's condition. Aside from these cases, bacterial infections (ie, parapneumonics and empyema) represent the most common coexisting disease in Contarini's cases, particularly in association with heart failure (50% of the cases).…”