RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Use of indwelling pleural catheter in a patient with refractory left-sided hepatic hydrothorax
JF BMJ Case Reports
JO BMJ Case Reports
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP e259867
DO 10.1136/bcr-2024-259867
VO 18
IS 3
A1 Hayes, Anna
A1 McCormick, Emma
A1 McNally, Mairead
YR 2025
UL http://casereports.bmj.com/content/18/3/e259867.abstract
AB A female patient in her mid-50s presented with left-sided effusion in the context of decompensated cirrhosis secondary to alcoholic hepatitis. She had a pre-existing injury to her left hemidiaphragm following a fall 2 years previously, at which point she had also developed a left-sided effusion. The diagnosis of hepatic hydrothorax (HH) was made following pleural fluid aspiration. Recurrent thoracocentesis was not sufficient to manage the effusion and diuretic use was limited by hyponatraemia. An indwelling pleural catheter (IPC) was subsequently inserted to facilitate routine drainage and management in the outpatient setting. To our knowledge, this is the first instance of IPC insertion for HH in Ireland.