Abstract
The authors experienced a rare case of malignant pleural mesothelioma with longterm survival following pleuropneumonectomy. A 48-year-old female was admitted to our hospital with persistent pleural effusion in February, 1985. Cytological examination yielded a suspicion of malignant mesothelioma. Pleural effusion had been pointed out on chest X-ray film, and she had received drug therapy under a suspicion of tuberculous pleuritis since November, 1982. At surgery, multiple fungus-like protrusions were recognized from the parietal and visceral pleura with small amounts of effusion. When the diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma was established by biopsy, pleuropneumonectomy was performed. However, complete resection of the tumor was not possible because of massive tumor invasion, particularly to the pericardium and diaphragm. Histologic findings showed well differentiated papillary or tubular proliferation of tumor cells with collagen fiber stroma, confirming the diagnosis of diffuse epithelial mesothelioma. Lymph node metastasis was not detected. Futraful (600mg/day) was given orally for about 5 years, and she is doing well with no recurrence 8 years after the operation.
