Letters to the Editor

CASE REPORT A 73-year-old male with a history of stage IV adenocarcinoma of the lung presented with progressive shortness of breath. Despite the large difference between the negative pressures generated in each method, we saw no difference in the outcomes (Table). [image omitted: see PDF] [image omitted: see PDF] DISCUSSION The DPM is a new tool that can measure pleural pressure during thoracentesis. 1, 2 The DPM is especially useful for patients with a high risk of expansion pulmonary edema or with lung entrapment. 3 Young patients with large pleural effusion (>3 L) and more than 7 days' duration of lung collapse are at risk for developing expansion pulmonary edema. 4, 5 Obtaining static measurements of the pleural pressure while performing thoracentesis can provide information about the intrathoracic pressure. To avoid the rapid removal of fluid and pressure fluctuations while using MIS, a gentle manual negative pressure can be applied.