This Monograph provides the clinician with an up-to-date summary of the substantial evidence in our understanding of pleural disease. It covers key aspects relevant to clinicians, including mechanisms, pathophysiology, epidemiology, diagnostics, relevant experimental models and interventions. Although broad in scope, readers will be able to reach into individual chapters to gain a focused summary of specific areas relevant to their clinical or scientific practice.
Epidemiology: why is pleural disease becoming more common?; The
pathophysiology of breathlessness and other symptoms associated with pleural
effusions; In vitro and in vivo laboratory models; Radiology: what is the
role of chest radiographs, CT and PET in modern management?; Thoracic
ultrasound: a key tool beyond procedure guidance; Pleural interventions: less
is more?; Pleural physiology: what do we understand and what should we
measure in clinical practice; Medical thoracoscopy in 2020: essential and
future techniques; Optimal diagnosis and treatment of malignant disease:
challenging the guidelines; Pleural infection: moving from treatment to
prevention; Effusions related to TB; Pneumothorax: how to predict, prevent
and cure; Nonspecific pleuritis; Nonmalignant pleural effusions: are they as
benign as we think?; Mesothelioma: is chemotherapy alone a thing of the past?
Novel technology: more than just indwelling pleural catheters; The role of
surgery; The specialist pleural service: when, why and who?
Nick A. Maskell leads the pleural service at the North Bristol NHS Trust and the Bristol Pleural Clinical Trials Unit at the University of Bristol (Bristol, UK). Christian B. Laursen is Head of Research and Associate Professor at the Respiratory Research Unit in the Department of Clinical Research at the University of Southern Denmark (Odense, Denmark). In his clinical work, he is a consultant at the Department of Respiratory Medicine at Odense University Hospital (Odense, Denmark). Y.C. Gary Lee is a Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Western Australia (Perth, Australia), and directs Pleural Services at the Respiratory Department of Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (Perth, Australia). He is also the Head of the Pleural Medicine Unit at the Institute for Respiratory Health (Nedlands, Australia). Najib M. Rahman runs the Oxford Pleural Unit (Oxford Centre for Respiratory Medicine, Oxford, UK), directs the Oxford Respiratory Trials Unit (Churchill Hospital, Oxford, UK) and conducts research in pleural disease at the Oxford Centre for Respiratory Medicine.