THE MANAGEMENT OF MALIGNANT PLEURAL AND PERICARDIAL-EFFUSIONS

Malignant pleural and pericardial effusions are debilitating complicat ions of metastatic malignancy. Improper management may lead to multipl e hospital admissions and loss of quality of life for patients with a short life expectancy. The majority of malignant pleural effusions are diagnosed and controlled by thoracentesis and sclerosis. Those with p ericardial malignancy are best diagnosed and treated with pericardioce ntesis and pericardial window. Strategies for the management of more d ifficult cases are also discussed in this article.