[Early malignant pleural mesothelioma; report of a case]

We report a case who had undergone operation of very early malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). A 58-year-old woman admitted to first visited hospital because of pleural effusion of the right side. She received a diagnosis of epithelial type MPM which had been confirmed from a pleural biopsy spacemen obtained by thoracoscopy under local anesthesia. An abnormal change of the pleura could not be detected on chest X-ray and thoracic computed tomography (CT) scan after chest drainage. She was referred to our hospital for surgery, and was undergone an extrapleural pneumonectomy followed by postoperative treatment with cisplatin puls gemcitabine. Pathologically, the disease was diagnosed as stage IA based on the classification of International Mesothelioma Interest Group (IMIG). There is a no evidence of the relapse 9 months after the operation. An early diagnosis of the MPM is very difficult. The thoracoscope with local anesthesia was very effective for early diagnose of a MPM.