AMBULATORY PLEURODESIS: SUCCESSFUL USE OF TALC WITH INDWELLING PLEURAL CATHETER FOR MANAGEMENT OF BILATERAL MALIGNANT PLEURAL EFFUSIONS

Abstract

SESSION TITLE: Wednesday Fellows Case Report Posters SESSION TYPE: Fellow Case Report Posters PRESENTED ON: 10/23/2019 09:45 AM - 10:45 AM INTRODUCTION: Malignant pleural effusions affect more than 750,000 patients each year in Europe and the United States and account for greater than 125,000 hospitalizations and have an estimated cost of $5 billion per year1,2. Treatment for malignant pleural effusions with expandable lung would favor treatment with talc pleurodesis and often requires days of inpatient hospitalization for management and observation3. Placement of indwelling pleural catheters (IPCs) can be used as successful alternative for management of symptoms in an ambulatory setting3,4. Additionally, administration of talc through an IPC shows increased probability of pleurodesis4. We present a patient with bilateral malignant pleural effusions with successful bilateral pleurodesis using talc instilled through bilateral IPCs. CASE PRESENTATION: A 72-year-old man with a past medical history significant for metastatic melanoma presented to the ED with complaints of progressive dyspnea at rest. Imaging revealed large bilateral pleural effusions with symptomatic improvement with therapeutic thoracentesis. Initial studies were consistent with exudative effusion with negative cytology and patient was discharged with follow-up in Pulmonary Clinic. He underwent repeat large-volume thoracentesis with repeat cytology showing metastatic melanoma. Given rapidly re-accumulating fluid and symptoms, a left IPC was placed with significant improvement and a right IPC was placed 2 weeks later with continued improvement and decreased effusions on repeat U/S. At this time, further management with talc pleurodesis was discussed to ideally eliminate the need of IPCs and enhance the patient’s quality of life. Talc was instilled per IPC plus protocol4 with subsequent ultrasound monitoring with <25 cc of output daily. Given good apposition, the left IPC was removed and 2 weeks later, talc was administered to the right IPC with similar results on ultrasound with upcoming removal of right IPC given continued good apposition and decreased drainage. DISCUSSION: We demonstrate a validated alternative treatment strategy in a patient with bilateral malignant pleural effusions. This presents a plausible alternative to patients to decrease hospital days and expenses, while improving quality of life and allowing for pleurodesis in an outpatient setting. We show success using bilateral IPCs with sequential talc pleurodesis and removal of IPCs. No hospitalizations were made during this time period and the patient tolerated all procedures well. CONCLUSIONS: Given continued advancement in techniques, we continue to show patient-centered care in a challenging population with an outpatient centered treatment approach and use of U/S imaging for clinical management. Reference #1: 1. Marel M, Zrustova M, et al. The incidence of pleural effusion in a well-defined region: epidemiology study in Central Bohemia. Chest 1993; 104:1486-9. Reference #2: 2. Taghizadeh N, Fortin M, Tremblay A. US hospitalizations for malignant pleural effusions: data from the 2012 National Inpatient Sample. Chest 2017;151:845–854. Reference #3: 3. Feller-Kopman D, Reddy C, et al. Management of Malignant Pleural Effusions. An Official ATS/STS/STR Clinical Practice Guidelines. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2018 Oct 1; 198(7):839-849. 4. Bhatnagar R, Keenan E, et al. Outpatient Talc Administration by Indwelling Pleural Catheter for Malignant Effusion. N Engl J Med. 2018 Apr 5;378(14):1313-1322. DISCLOSURES: No relevant relationships by Michael Gonzales, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Tyson Sjulin, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by John Untisz, source=Web Response