• S Sartori, I Nielsen, L Trevisani, D Tassinari, and V Abbasciano.
• Dipartimento di Medicina Interna e Oncologia Medica, Azienda Ospedaliera, Ferrara, Italy.
• Support Care Cancer. 1999 Sep 1; 7 (5): 362-4.

AbstractIntrapleural catheters are useful in the palliative treatment of malignant effusions. Complications are infrequent and of little importance. We report a case of subcutaneous implantation metastasis along the course of intrapleural catheter, which had been placed under sonographic guidance in a patient with pleural mesothelioma. After drainage of the effusion, cisplatin plus cytarabine was administered via the chest tube, achieving complete remission of the pleural effusion. Subcutaneous metastasis became evident 3 months later and was the only sign of disease progression for 2 months. The seeding of cancer cells was probably caused by a small leakage of fluid around the chest tube that occurred during the placement procedure as a result of the increased intrapleural pressure caused by the large quantity of fluid that had accumulated in the pleural space.

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