M. Kaptanoglu et al., Bilateral chylothorax caused by pleuropulmonary lymphangiomyomatosis: A challenging problem in thoracic surgery, SC CARDIOVA, 35(2), 2001, pp. 151-154
Massive left-sided pleural effusion in a 35-year-old man was initially diag
nosed as idiopathic spontaneous chylothorax and treated with serial thorace
nteses and left thoracotomy. Six weeks later, a right thoracotomy was perfo
rmed for contralateral chylothorax, and histologic examination revealed lym
phangiomyomatosis. The patient survived this rare and potentially fatal dis
ease. We have found no previously published case of bilateral lymphangiomyo
matosis treated with separate thoracotomies because of bilateral chylothora
x.