Abstract
A 62-year-old diabetic male patient with angina pectoris and chronic renal failure developed massive hydrothorax 8 months after starting a program of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). The pleural aspirate showed a raised concentration of glucose with a low concentration of protein. After 99mTc-Sn-colloid was administered intraperitoneally with 2 liters of dialysate, high radioactivity was soon detected in the right pleural cavity, suggesting that hydrothorax was caused by trans-diaphragmatic leakage of the dialysate. Although hydrothorax resolved following the cessation of CAPD, angina attacks, which had remitted under CAPD, began to occur frequently on the days of hemodialysis. This suggested that CAPD is more suitable than hemodialysis for patients with angina pectoris, because it provides stable cardiovascular status.
