The utility of thoracoscopy in the diagnosis and management of pleural disease.

Recurrent and persistent pleural exudates are common in clinical practice, and in a large number of patients, thoracocentesis and blind pleural biopsy procedures do not provide a definitive diagnosis. In the Western world, the majority of these exudates are malignant. Thoracoscopy today remains the gold standard technique in providing diagnosis and management in these cases. Other common indications include diagnosis and management of recurrent or refractory benign exudates or transudates, pleural based tumors and pleural thickening, selected cases of pleural empyema, and recurrent spontaneous primary and secondary pneumothorax. Major advantages of this technique are ease of application, high diagnostic accuracy and therapeutic efficacy, low cost, and excellent safety record comparable with flexible bronchoscopy. Thoracoscopy should be part of the routine training curriculum of respiratory physicians.