Pleural Mesothelioma with No Asbestos Exposure: A Case Report

Abstract

Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MPM) is the primary malignant tumour of the pleura. It is highly aggressive and linked to the exposure to asbestos fibers. The prognosis of this cancer is bad with a median of survival around 12 months. The diagnosis of pleural mesothelioma is often done at an advanced stage of the disease because of the lack of specific clinical and radiological signs differentiating it from any malignant pleural effusion. The absence of an explicit asbestos exposure is another diagnosis problem. We report the case of a 60-year-old patient without any prior exposure to asbestos who presented for pleural effusion and a nodular thickening of the pleura on the CT scan. The diagnosis of MPM was confirmed after pathology study of the biopsies obtained by video assisted thoracoscopy.

Keywords

• diagnosis
• malignancy
• pleural effusion