New insights in the use of pleural ultrasonography for diagnosis and treatment of pleural disease.

The use of transthoracic ultrasound (US) has acquired a wide consensus among respiratory physicians during the last few years. The development of portable devices promotes patient's bedside evaluation providing rapid, real-time and low-cost diagnostic information. The different acoustic impedance between different tissues and organs produces artifacts known as A lines, B lines, sliding sign, lung point, etc.

Medical thoracoscopy: Analysis on diagnostic yield through 30 years of experience.

Background: Medical thoracoscopy (MT) or pleuroscopy is a procedure performed to diagnose and treat malignant and benign pleural diseases. Totally 2752 pleuroscopies executed in 1984-2013 in our center were considered in this study.

Methods: A retrospective observational study was performed.

Pulmonary sarcoidosis presenting with acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Sarcoidosis is a common disease that involve almost constantly the lung. Usually the onset is insidious, and symptoms are slowly ingravescent. Very rarely, as in the case here reported, sarcoidosis can cause an acute respiratory failure with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

Medical thoracoscopy in MALT lymphoma causing pleural effusion: A case report.

Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma is a form of low-grade malignant B-cell extranodal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. It is classified as marginal-zone lymphoma and represents less than 1% of all lung cancer. We describe a case of MALT lymphoma limited exclusively to the lung that came to our attention with infective pleural effusion and concomitant lung consolidation of the left lower lobe.

Ultrasound-guided medical thoracoscopy in the absence of pleural effusion.

Background: Medical thoracoscopy (MT) is a diagnostic and therapeutic procedure that permits the study of the pleural space. The presence of pleural adhesions is the most important contraindication to performing MT. Lesions of the pleura in absence of pleural effusion are usually studied in video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) with preoperative ultrasound evaluation.