Diagnostic examination for causes of exudative pleurisy

Abstract In two patients, men aged 65 and 57 years with complaints of exertional dyspnoea, dry cough, diminished appetite and weight loss, the cause of pleural fluid formation was not discovered despite several diagnostic procedures. In the first patient a diffuse mesothelioma was found at autopsy. The second patient had pleurisy secondary to an adenocarcinoma in the upper lobe of the right lung; he died from lung embolism after the second, diagnostic, thoracoscopy. It can be difficult to establish the diagnosis in patients with a pleural effusion. Specific reasons for this are abundant formation of connective tissue in cases of malignant pleural disease and subsequent risks of sampling errors.