• Govindarajan Narayanan, Amir Pezeshkmehr, Shree Venkat, Gabriella Guerrero, and Katuzka Barbery.
• Department of Radiology, Vascular and Interventional Radiology, University of Miami , Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida.
• J Palliat Med. 2014 Aug 1; 17 (8): 906-12.

BackgroundMalignant ascites is a common complication seen in association with various types of neoplastic processes. Due to high recurrence rates, patients may require multiple paracenteses, which have associated complications such as increased risk of bleeding, infection, pain, and volume and electrolyte depletion.ObjectiveThis study evaluated the management of malignant ascites by placement of the PleurX® tunneled catheter system at a single center.MethodsThis was a retrospective study of 38 patients who underwent PleurX catheter placement for refractory malignant ascites between February 2006 and March 2012 at our institution. Pretreatment characteristics and outcome measures were reported using descriptive statistics.ResultsThe population included 21 males and 17 females with a mean age of 60.6 years (range, 36-79 years) diagnosed with metastatic disease from a variety of primary malignancies, the most common of which was pancreatic cancer (10 patients). In 84% of patients (32/38) who were not lost to follow-up, mean survival time was 40.7 days (range 4-434 days). Technical success rate of catheter placement was 100%.ConclusionsThe PleurX catheter can be used to manage malignant ascites in severely ill patients with metastatic cancer, with a high rate of procedural success and a low incidence of potentially serious adverse events, infections, or catheter-related complications.

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