Malign tumours of the pleura

Basing on the experience made with 290 cases of malign tumours of the pleura which were operated on, a presentation of the anatomy, clinics, radiology, and the operative treatment methods is given. The development of the several types of pleura tumours is described. As for the diagnose, the most important measure of the optical presentation is the tangential presentation of the knotty thickenings of the pleura, in most cases only after biopsy of the effusion and blowing in air as contrast medium. Arrangements of nodes of the pleura in the shape of a rosary or a string of pearls can be recognized especially at the intralobar edges and can be seen in the lateral and the sagittal tomogram. The tomography shows especially good the knotty changes in the pleura in the vault of the thorax while the computerized tomogram provides the widest view at the changes in the pleura mediastinalis, costalis, and visceralis because of its transversal cutting. In the histology of the mesotheliom which is sometimes rather difficult the finding of narrow fissure spaces covered by a sort of endothelium is seen as a proof. (orig./MG)