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Updated: Aug 10, 2026

Local Anesthetic Thoracoscopy for Undiagnosed Pleural Effusion
Published on: November 10, 2023
Gastropleural fistula derived from malignant lymphoma
Yasushi Adachi1, Yoshiaki Sato, Hiroshi Yasui
1Department of Internal Medicine, Sapporo Shirakabadai Hospital, Sapporo, Japan.
Abstract:
An 88-year-old man developed pneumothorax and pleural effusion. After the finding of ingesta in the pleural effusion, a gastropleural fistula was diagnosed. A biopsy specimen of the stomach revealed non-Hodgkin lymphoma, diffuse large-cell, B-cell type. Autopsy examination demonstrated that the malignant lymphoma had originated from high-grade gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma. Gastropleural fistula is an uncommon condition, as the diaphragm forms a thick barrier between the stomach and the thoracic cavity. We review 25 reported cases of gastropleural fistula found in a MEDLINE search from 1966 to 2000. In only 3 of the 25 patients was malignant lymphoma reported to have caused the gastropleural fistula.
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