LAPAROSCOPY IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF PRIMARY P ERITONEAL MESOTHELIOMA

In this study we demostrate the usefulness of laparoscopy on the diagn osis of some unusual causes of ascitis, such as primary mesothelioma, usually overlooked by other diagnostic modalities, like ultrasound, co mputed tomography and cytology of the ascitic fluid. We describe three cases of primary peritoneal mesothelioma among 27 patients with exuda tive ascitis submitted to laparoscopy at our institution during the pa st two years. The final diagnosis inaccesible to the conventional diag nostic modalities, was reached only by laparoscopy.