Abstract
Between 1966 and 1970, 23 talc pleural poudrages for neoplastic effusions were performed in 22 patients at the National Cancer Institute in Milan. No recurrence was observed in 16 cases and in another 2 the effusion recurred to a minor degree. Talc poudrage was ineffective in 2 patients and 3 died postoperatively. The median survival of the patients who had a complete remission of their pleural effusions was 8 months, with minimum of 2 months and maximum of 2 years. The best results were obtained in patients with pleural mesotheliomas or pleural metastatic carcinomas other than lung cancer. Talc pleural poudrage seemed to be more effective when performed early in patients not yet in the preterminal phase.
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