An unusual case of massive pleural effusion

Abstract

Lung carcinoma is a major cause of mortality worldwide. Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) constitutes of about 10%–15% of cases of all lung cancer. It generally affects males more commonly than females and has smoking as a high-risk factor. It is generally a solid central tumor which spreads very rapidly to mediastinal lymph nodes and distant organs. It generally presents with mass effects such as cough, wheezing, superior vena cava syndrome and hemoptysis and also causes paraneoplastic syndrome. It is very rare for SCLC to present as isolated massive pleural effusion. Here in, we describe a case of massive pleural effusion which was diagnosed as small cell carcinoma with thoracoscopic pleural biopsy, and was managed with pleurodesis and cisplatin-based chemotherapy.

Keywords

• massive pleural effusion
• small-cell lung carcinoma
• thoracoscopic biopsy