Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37793939›Full record

ArticleThe American journal of case reports2023

Gelatinous Pleural Effusion: A Diagnostic Challenge for Pleural Mesothelioma in an 80-Year-Old Man.

Ali M Ibnian, Obaid Ullah Khan, Richard Chan, Umesh Bangalore Lakshminarayana, Fasiha Kiran, Sarah Abed, Rahim Abbas, Ahsan Amir, Noran K Al-Kofahi

Open access · hybridAbstract readCase Reports
In one paragraph

Article in The American journal of case reports, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 36% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Case Report: Infection withFrontiers in immunology · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.

Ali M IbnianDepartment of Respiratory Medicine, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, Grimsby, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0002-5933-9426
Obaid Ullah KhanDepartment of Respiratory Medicine, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, Grimsby, United Kingdom.
Richard ChanDepartment of Respiratory Medicine, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, Grimsby, United Kingdom.
Umesh Bangalore LakshminarayanaDepartment of Respiratory Medicine, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, Grimsby, United Kingdom.
Fasiha KiranDepartment of Respiratory Medicine, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, Grimsby, United Kingdom.
Sarah AbedDepartment of Respiratory Medicine, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, Grimsby, United Kingdom.
Rahim AbbasDepartment of Respiratory Medicine, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, Grimsby, United Kingdom.
Ahsan AmirDepartment of Respiratory Medicine, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, Grimsby, United Kingdom.
Noran K Al-KofahiDepartment of Respiratory Medicine, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, Grimsby, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0003-4759-2261
Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND Gelatinous pleural effusion, due to raised hyaluronic acid, can be associated with pleural infection and malignancies, such as tuberculosis, metastatic pleural disease, and mesothelioma. This report is of an 80-year-old man presenting with a gelatinous pleural effusion and diagnosis of pleural mesothelioma. CASE REPORT An 80-year-old man with diabetes mellitus, ischemic heart disease, metastatic prostate cancer, 30-pack-year smoking history, and 5-year history of asbestos exposure (during his 30s), presented with a 4-week history of breathlessness and was found to have right-sided pleural effusion. Thoracic computed tomography (CT) showed mild right-sided pleural thickening. Pleural tap revealed exudative fluid, with a pH of 7.4, and unremarkable cytology and microbiology analyses. The patient was treated for pneumonia and para-pneumonic effusion and discharged home. He came back 5 weeks later with worsening of symptoms and re-accumulation of pleural fluid. Repeated thorax CT showed extensive right-sided pleural lobular thickening. Pleural tap again yielded an exudative fluid, with a pH of 7.37. Cytology and microbiology did not reveal any positive signs for malignancy or infection. This time the pleural fluid appeared gelatinous in consistency. Pleural biopsy showed atypical epithelioid mesothelial cells arranged in trabeculae, with a tubulo-papillary configuration. Also, immunohistochemistry panel showed tumor cells expressed calretinin, EMA, WT1, and D2-40, with negative TTF1, CEA, and BerEp4. Final diagnosis was epithelioid mesothelioma. CONCLUSIONS This report has shown that a gelatinous pleural effusion can be associated with malignant and inflammatory pleural diseases. In this case, imaging and pleural biopsy with histopathology confirmed a diagnosis of pleural mesothelioma.

Indexed as

AsbestosMesotheliomaPleural DiseasesPleural EffusionPleural NeoplasmsAged, 80 and overHumansMalePleuraAsbestos

Identifiers

PMID37793939
PMCPMC10560792
OpenAlexW4385982920

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.