Approach to the management of pleural effusion in malignancy

The diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to malignant pleural effusions are reviewed, and data on the retrospective study of 37 patients are presented with respect to diagnosis and management. All patients with stable effusions should be managed with systemic therapy for the primary tumor when an effective agent is available. When it becomes necessary to use local therapeutic measures, thoracostomy tube drainage with local instillation of tetracycline is recommended.