Steven Walker

What every physician needs to know: Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is a common clinical problem that results in disabling breathlessness for patients with advanced malignancy. It represents disseminated disease and confers a poor prognosis. Patients often require multiple invasive procedures in order to gain a diagnosis and manage their symptomatic pleural effusions, which impacts their…

What every physician needs to know: Pleural space infection/empyema is usually seen in association with pneumonia, although primary empyema is occasionally seen (~4%) with no radiographic evidence of pneumonia or other obvious cause. Reactive versus infected pleural effusions Up to 57 percent of patients with pneumonia have an associated pleural effusion, which varies in size…