Summary
One hundred malignant pleural mesotheliomas have been treated in our hospital since
1955. Clinical and autopsy findings are analyzed and compared to X-ray changes. The
most common symptoms were dyspnea (49%), pain (40%) and cough (36%). The main initial
X-ray signs were pleural effusion (62%), pleural thickening (29%) and solitary nodules
(6%). Prior to death a combination of effusion and pleural thickening was the usual
finding.
Histologically there were 49 biphasic, 32 mesenchymal and 18 epithelial malignant
pleural mesotheliomas. At autopy 82% of the cases had distant metastases, most of
which had not been expected clinically.
The median survival time was 7.3 months following the first clinical symptoms, and
only 4 months after the first radiological signs.
Key words
Prognosis - One hundred pleural mesotheliomas
