Chest
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The decision-making on antiplatelet drug withdrawal or continuation before performing a pleural procedure is based on the balance between the risk of bleeding associated with the antiplatelet therapy and the risk of arterial thrombosis due to its interruption. Knowledge on antiplatelet therapy-associated risk of bleeding after pleural procedures is lacking. ⋯ Antiplatelet therapy was associated with an increased risk of post-pleural procedure bleeding and serious bleeding. Future guidelines should take into account these results for patient safety.
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A trisomy 21 neonate presented with congenital chylous pleural effusion and ascites that was refractory to conventional pharmacotherapy. Midodrine, an oral alpha-1-adrenoreceptor agonist, achieved remission of chylous effusion without any adverse effects. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first neonatal case of successful management of congenital chylous pleural effusion and ascites with midodrine.
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Systematic endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS)-guided lung cancer staging starts with hilar N3 nodes, proceeding sequentially to mediastinal N3, N2, and N1 nodes, with sampling of all enlarged nodes (size, ≥ 5 mm) by EBUS. However, procedure time is limited by patient comfort when moderate sedation is used. It is unclear if EBUS staging should start with hilar N3 nodes or whether starting with mediastinal N3 nodes suffices. Knowing the probability of hilar N3 nodes with PET-CT scan negative findings harboring occult metastasis can inform this decision. ⋯ When using moderate sedation, because time is limited, it is reasonable to start with the mediastinal N3 nodes if the hilar and mediastinal N3 nodes show negative PET scan results. Patients with positive PET scan findings of the mediastinal N3 nodes probably should undergo hilar N3 node sampling.
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A 27-year-old man from Eritrea presented to the ED complaining about a progressively worse blunt chest pain in the anterior right hemithorax. Chest pain started 4 years ago and was intermittent. ⋯ For this purpose, he visited another institution, where a chest radiograph was performed (Fig 1). He was advised to visit a pulmonologist for further evaluation, with the diagnosis of a loculated pleural effusion in the right upper hemithorax.
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A 26-year-old woman with no significant medical history was referred for 5 months of dry cough, dyspnea, presyncope and chest pressure, and nausea with exertion. The family history was notable for thromboembolic disease in the setting of malignancy and autoimmune disease. She was not on any medications. ⋯ She had a prominent P2 heart sound. There was no jugular venous distension or edema. There was no clubbing, rash, or synovitis.