• Kyle Bramley, Erin DeBiasi, and Jonathan Puchalski.
• Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.
• Semin Respir Crit Care Med. 2018 Dec 1; 39 (6): 713-719.

AbstractPleural effusions account for significant symptoms and morbidity. Recent studies demonstrate a high mortality in patients with "benign" pleural effusions, now better characterized as nonmalignant pleural effusions (NMPEs) based on their prognosis. The most common nonmalignant clinical conditions with recurrent pleural effusions are congestive heart failure and hepatic hydrothorax, although many other diseases exist in isolation or as comorbid conditions. When conventional therapy fails, thoracentesis is often performed for relief of dyspnea. Many times, however, the effusions recur despite maximal medical therapy. Placement of tunneled or indwelling pleural catheters provides an effective therapeutic strategy for recurrent NMPEs when other medical therapy fails.Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

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