POST-LYMPHANGIOGRAPHIC COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY IN CHYLOTHORAX AFTER ESOPHAGOGASTRECTOMY: A CASE REPORT
- DT Ginat
- LG Sahler
- N Patel
- WA Saad
- DL Waldman
Abstract
Chylothorax is a rare complication of thoracic surgery. Lymphangiography has long been considered to be the standard of reference for diagnosis and post-treatment evaluation while the role of post-lymangiographic CT is debated. We report a case of chylothorax in a 68-year-old male following esophagogastrectomy for which conservative treatment and thoracic duct ligation failed.Lymphangiography performed after these attempts revealed persistent thoracic duct leakage into the right pleural space. Subsequentnon-contrast CT and reformatted images clearly depicted the sources of leakage,and this documentation targeted direct percutaneous treatment. Unfortunately, the lack of access precluded the planned percutaneous CT-guided embolization of the thoracic duct. Nevertheless, this case suggests that post- lymphangiographic CT can serve as a value-added modality in the evaluation and potential treatment of chylothorax.
Keywords: chylothorax, CT, lymphography, thoracic duct, esophagogastrectomy
How to Cite:
Ginat, D. & Sahler, L. & Patel, N. & Saad, W. & Waldman, D., (2009) “POST-LYMPHANGIOGRAPHIC COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY IN CHYLOTHORAX AFTER ESOPHAGOGASTRECTOMY: A CASE REPORT”, Lymphology 42(3), 130-133.
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