Three Cases of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma Misdiagnosed as Tuberculous Pleurisy.

Kim, Ki Uk; Kim, Ji Eun; Jo, Woo Sung; Lee, Ji Seok; Park, Hye Kyung; Kim, Yun Seong; Lee, Min Ki; I, Hoseok; Kim, Yeong Dae; Lee, Chang Hun

doi:2007.62.4.323

Tuberc Respir Dis > Volume 62(4); 2007 > Article

Case Report

Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases 2007;62(4):323-330.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4046/trd.2007.62.4.323 Published online April 1, 2007.

Three Cases of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma Misdiagnosed as Tuberculous Pleurisy.

Ki Uk Kim, Ji Eun Kim, Woo Sung Jo, Ji Seok Lee, Hye Kyung Park, Yun Seong Kim, Min Ki Lee, Hoseok I, Yeong Dae Kim, Chang Hun Lee

¹Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Pusan National University, Pusan, Korea.
²Department of Thoracic Surgery, College of Medicine, Pusan National University, Pusan, Korea. domini@pnu.edu
³Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Pusan National University, Pusan, Korea.

Abstract

Malignant pleural mesothelioma(MPM) is an uncommon neoplasm which is originated from pleural mesothelial cells. The majority of MPM is associated with prior asbestos exposure. Patients often present with chest pain and dyspnea due to pleural effusion, which might be diagnosed with tuberculous pleurisy especially in Korea. MPM is well known for its poor prognosis with a median survival time of less than 12 months after diagnosis and no established standard treatment modality. We report 3 cases of MPM confirmed by video-assisted thoracoscopic biopsy first misdiagnosed as tuberculous pleurisy.

Key Words: Malignant pleural mesothelioma, Tuberculous pleurisy, Thoracoscopy