Title of article :
Black Pleural Effusion
Author/Authors :
palakuru, surya s. university of texas health science center at houston - mcgovern medical school - department of internal medicine, divisions of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine, Houston, USA , vijhani, praveen university of texas health science center at houston - mcgovern medical school - department of internal medicine, divisions of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine, Houston, USA , cherian, sujith v. university of texas health science center at houston - mcgovern medical school - department of internal medicine, divisions of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine, Houston, USA
Abstract :
Pleural effusions are common in clinical practice. In general, the diagnostic approach starts with thoracentesis. Serous (yellow) and blood tinged (reddish) pleural effusions are the most common types of pleural fluid at thoracentesis. Black colored pleural effusions are an extremely rare entity and knowledge regarding this entity is limited to case reports. A thorough systemic search on PubMed database was done looking at all reported cases of black pleural effusion. Broadly, dividing black pleural effusion based on etiology, the causes are as follows: (1) infectious – especially fungal – Aspergillus niger, Rhizopus oryzae, (2) malignancy ‑ metastatic melanoma and primary lung cancers, (3) pancreaticopleural fistula, and (4) miscellaneous causes‑including crack cocaine use, rheumatoid pleurisy, and charcoal containing empyema. Treatment of these effusions involves treatment of the underlying cause. Black pleural effusions are very rare entities with a limited differential, which the treating clinician should consider when encountered in clinical practice.
Keywords :
Black pleural effusion , infection , malignancy , pancreaticopleural fistula
Journal title :
Research in Cardiovascular Medicine
Journal title :
Research in Cardiovascular Medicine
