Radionuclide evaluation of pleural-peritoneal shunt before pleurodesis

Talc pleurodesis can be offered to patients with hepatic hydrothorax. The authors wanted to determine their patient's eligibility for talc pleurodesis by excluding a pleural-peritoneal shunt.

The authors measured the size of the talc particles and matched them with the radionuclide particle size. After injecting radiopharmaceutical into the pleura, the authors imaged the abdomen for possible migration.

In their patient, there was no migration of radionuclide from the thorax into the abdomen.

Injecting radionuclide into the thoracic cavity and then imaging for an extended period of time is one way to determine whether the patient has a pleural-peritoneal shunt.