Implantation of a pleurovenous shunt for massive chylothorax in a patient with yellow nail syndrome

Chylothoraces After Lung Transplantation for Lymphangioleiomyomatosis: Review of the Literature and Utilization of a Pleurovenous Shunt

“…6,12 Only three patients have been described in the literature who have received a pleurovenous shunt to treat a refractory chylothorax. 12,13 One patient had yellow nail disease and no evidence of the effusion at the time of his death. 13 Another patient had the shunt placed for a chylothorax secondary to LAM and was successfully bridged to transplant.…”

Life-threatening Pulmonary Lymphedema Secondary to Thoracic Duct Ligation

“…However, in our patient, the lymphedema developed after thoracic duct ligation, and thin wall cystic lung lesions, characteristic of LAM or renal angiomyolipomas, were absent, suggesting that LAM was unlikely to be the cause of the generalized lymphedema. Another disease causing lymphedema and chylothorax is yellow nail syndrome, characterized by the triad of yellow nails, lymphedema and pleural effusions (6), but this syndrome was not the cause in our patient.…”

A Pleuroperitoneal Shunt for Interactive Pleural Effusions With Yellow Nail Syndrome

“…A PubMed search revealed only 4 reports of use of a pleuroperitoneal shunt for this syndrome [10,[12][13][14]. Including our case, the clinical features of the 5 reported cases are summarized in Table 1.…”

“…Pleural effusion in yellow nail syndrome has been reported to occur at rates of 36% [9], 40% [2], 46% [4] and 63% [3] and is sometimes chylous [10] or is chylous in 30% of all cases with pleural effusion [2]. The age at onset of symptoms is typically between the 4th and 6th decades [2,4], but Nordkild et al [11] described cases from a newborn with lymphedema to patients of 65 years old.…”