Diagnostic work-up of IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) pleural involvement is a complex task, as there is a broad spectrum of differential diagnoses to consider. We report the case of a patient presenting with relapsing pleural effusion, discussing the main challenges for achievement of a definite diagnosis. A 63-year-old man was admitted for pleural effusion prevalent on the ride side, initially labeled as idiopathic non-specific pleuritis, based on tissue evaluation after a medical thoracoscopy. He was started on steroids with initial improvement, but a later CT scan showed a relapse of pleural effusion associated with diffuse pleural thickening; a subsequent surgical pleural biopsy revealed features suggestive for IgG4-RD, with a marked increase of IgG4 positive plasma cells. High IgG4 serum levels were also found. The present case underlines the importance of increasing awareness of this potential condition among physicians in order to properly guide the diagnostic work-up, as it is likely that IgG4-RD accounts for a proportion of patients with pleural effusions, labeled as idiopathic. In particular, in patients with unexplained pleural effusion, IgG4-RD should be included among differential diagnoses when lymphoplasmacytic infiltration is observed, and a multidisciplinary interaction between clinicians and pathologists appears crucial for an accurate diagnosis and an appropriate management.

Introduction: Liver transplantation is the treatment of choice for decompensated liver disease, and by extension for hepatic hydrothorax. Persistent pleural effusions make it challenging for patients to maintain physiological fitness for transplantation. Indwelling pleural catheters (IPCs) provide controlled pleural fluid removal, including peri-operatively. The immune dysfunction of cirrhosis heightens susceptibility to bacterial infection and concerns exist regarding the sepsis potential from a tunnelled drain. Method: Six patients were identified who underwent IPC insertion for hepatic hydrothorax before successful liver transplantation, between November 2016 and November 2017. Results: All patients had recurrent transudative right sided pleural effusions. Mean age was 49 years (range 24-64) and mean United Kingdom Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score was 58. Four patients required correction of coagulopathy before insertion. There were no complications secondary to bleeding. Three patients were taught self-drainage at home of up to 1 litre (L) daily. A protocol was developed to ensure weekly review, pleural fluid culture and drainage of larger volumes in hospital. For every 2-3 L of pleural fluid drained, 100 mls of 20% Human Albumin Solution (HAS) was administered. On average an IPC was in situ for 58 days before surgery and drained 19 L of fluid in hospital. There was a small increase in average BMI (0.2) and serum albumin (2.1 g/L) at transplantation. There was one episode of stage one acute kidney injury secondary to high volume drainage. No further ascitic or pleural procedures were needed while an IPC was in situ. One thoracentesis was required after IPC removal. On average IPCs remained in situ for 7 days post transplantation and drained a further 2 L of fluid. Pleural fluid sampling was acquired on 92% of drainages in hospital. Of 44 fluid cultures, 2 cultured bacteria. Two patients had their IPCs and all other lines removed post transplantation due to suspected infection. Conclusion: Our case series describes a novel protocol and successful use of IPCs in the management of refractory hepatic hydrothorax as a bridge to liver transplantation. The protocol includes albumin replacement during pleural drainage, regular clinical review and culture of pleural fluid, with the option of self-drainage at home.

A 41-year-old female with a past medical history significant only for right retinal vein occlusion presented with chest pain, cough, and shortness of breath. After being found to have a large right-sided pleural effusion and undergoing a nondiagnostic thoracentesis, a noncontrast chest computed tomography scan revealed multiple diffuse nodules in the right lung with irregular paraspinal pleural thickening. An extensive workup followed, with computed tomography-guided biopsy ultimately revealing the diagnosis. The following report describes the patient presentation, laboratory findings, and extensive clinical investigation, and provides a discussion of the epidemiology, imaging findings, prognosis, and differential diagnoses for the illness in question.

Hemothorax cannot always be treated by thoracic surgeon. Rapidly improved interventional pulmonology broadens the application of medical thoracoscopy. We attempt to share our experiences of medical thoracoscopy for hemothorax and discuss the value of medical thoracoscopy in pleural diseases. We reported a 76-year-old male with hemothorax who was cured by medical thoracoscopy under local anesthesia together with argon plasma coagulation. Moreover, final pathological diagnosis was acquired as pleural sarcomatoid carcinoma. The unusual manifestation under medical thoracoscopy of such a relative rare disease was also described in this paper. The medical thoracoscopy could be used successfully for hemothorax instead of treating with surgeon, especially for those who cannot tolerate procedure of operation or surgical thoracoscopy.

Malignant pleural effusion is an important and difficult differential diagnosis to pleural empyema. Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma is an uncommon vascular tumor, which typically occurs in liver, lung or bone. We present an extremely rare case of primary pleural epithelioid hemangioendothelioma mimicking pleural empyema. We conclude, that pleural epithelioid hemangioendothelioma should be kept in mind as a differential diagnosis in patients suspected of empyema.

A 43-year-old man presented with cough. His chest X-ray showed a left-sided pleural effusion. We suspected tuberculous pleurisy (TP), and thoracoscopy under local anaesthesia was performed. It showed entire pleura with scattered nodules. Nodules were biopsied by conventional biopsy forceps, but the tissue sample was small. Therefore, the nodules were biopsied with a cryoprobe. The tissue size obtained was 2 mm by conventional biopsy forceps, and 6 mm at 5 sec by cryobiopsy. Histological analysis of the conventional biopsy forceps and cryobiopsy specimen showed inflammation with lymphocytes and caseating granulomas. Tissue culture of conventional biopsy forceps was positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and all sensitivity tests were positive. But, the tissue culture of the cryobiopsy sample was negative. There is a possibility that cryobiopsy is not useful for tissue culture for TP.

IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a fibro-inflammatory condition characterized by increased serum IgG4 level, infiltration of lymphocytes and IgG4-positive (IgG4+) plasma cells and fibrosis. It can occur in almost all organs, commonly affecting the pancreas, biliary tract, salivary and lacrimal glands and kidneys. However, reports of IgG4-RD accompanied by pathologically confirmed, IgG4-related pleural disease are scarce. Here, we present a case of a 64-year-old man with suspected malignant pleural mesothelioma based on imaging findings but finally diagnosed with IgG4-RD (including pleuritis, periaortitis and bilateral submandibular gland enlargement) based on a high serum IgG4 level and pleural histopathological findings such as lymphoplasmacytic infiltration including IgG4+ plasma cells and fibrosis. Systemic corticosteroid therapy was effective at reducing serum IgG4, improving bilateral submandibular gland enlargement, and regressing pleural thickening and periaortic soft tissue. We also discuss clinical characteristics and pleural pathological features of previously reported cases with IgG4-related pleural disease based on a comprehensive literature review. Our case of IgG4-RD with pleura, aorta and submandibular gland involvement, pathologically confirmed by pleural specimen might be unique and very rare.

Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma is classified as marginal zone lymphoma, a form of low-grade malignant B-cell non-Hodgkin\'s lymphoma. It affects the gastrointestinal tract with lung and pleural involvement considered to be rare. We describe a case of a 71-year-old man with a history of MALT lymphoma in remission who presented with dyspnea due to pleural effusion. Pleural fluid flowcytometry analysis showed monotypic B-cell population that expressed cluster of differentiation (CD)19, CD20, CD22, and kappa surface light chains. Medical pleuroscopy and pleural biopsy showed fibroadipose tissue with poorly defined lymphoid aggregates displaying a so-called \"monocytoid\" appearance, a histologic finding typical of marginal zone lymphoma. The patient underwent pleurodesis and achieved resolution of pleural effusion; however, the patient developed several complications and was discharged on home hospice.

Immunoglobulin G4-related disease is a rare autoimmune systemic disease with the capability of involving every organ. The disease is microscopically defined by a diffuse tissular inflammation with an infiltration of IgG4 positive plasma cells in the affected organs. IgG4 disease has an increasing incidence in the last few years with a growing interest in its pathophysiology still misunderstood to date. Despite the growing recognition of this pathology, the literature still does not allow to propose a simple diagnostic algorithm. In this article, we present a case of a 56-year-old man with a history of unknown etiology acute pancreatitis and a unilateral pleural effusion.

BACKGROUND: Indwelling pleural catheters (IPC) offer an alternative to talc pleurodesis in recurrent effusion, especially in patients wishing to avoid hospitalization. Two randomized trials have demonstrated reduced time in hospital using IPCs versus talc pleurodesis in malignant pleural effusion (MPE). However, the impact of IPCs on hospital services and patients has not been well studied.
OBJECTIVE: To analyze long-term outcomes of IPCs and understand the hospital burden in terms of requirement for hospital visits and contacts with healthcare, while the IPC was in situ.
METHODS: IPC insertions in a tertiary pleural center were analyzed retrospectively. Reviews of patients with IPCs in situ considered \"additional\" to routine clinical follow-up were defined pre-hoc.
RESULTS: A total of 202 cases were analyzed: 89.6% MPE group (n = 181) and 10.4% non-MPE group (n = 21). There were a median 3.0 (interquartile range [IQR] 3) and 2.0 (IQR 2) ipsilateral pleural procedures prior to each IPC insertion in non-MPE and MPE groups, respectively (p = 0.26), and a mean 1.3 (SD 1.7) planned IPC-related outpatient follow-up visits per patient. There were 2 (9.5%) and 14 (7.7%) IPC-related infections in non-MPE and MPE groups, respectively. Four (19.0%) and 44 (24.3%) patients required additional IPC-related reviews in non-MPE and MPE groups, respectively (p = 0.6), and these occurred within 250 days post IPC insertion.
CONCLUSIONS: Although IPCs decrease initial length of hospital stay compared to talc pleurodesis via chest drain, IPCs are associated with significant hospital-visit burden, in addition to planned visits and regular home IPC drainages. IPC-using services need to be prepared for this additional work to run an IPC service effectively.