Document Type

Report

Publication Date

12-17-2025

Comments

This article is the author’s final published version in Case Reports in Pulmonology, Volume 2025, Issue 1, 2025, Article number 5592208.

The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1155/crpu/5592208. Copyright © 2025 Nolan Fox et al.

 

Abstract

A 68-year-old male with a history of metastatic bladder cancer and urinary obstruction presented with intractable hiccups and chest pain is presented in this case. He was found to have a unilateral pleural effusion in addition to ipsilateral renal metastasis abutting the diaphragm. Imaging revealed empyema. Thoracentesis revealed positive cultures and a lack of malignant cells on cytology. Comorbid urinary obstruction and urinary tract infection suggested the rare diagnosis of an infected urinothorax. Thoracentesis also revealed pleural fluid creatinine greater than serum creatinine, meeting the most specific diagnostic criteria for urinothorax and establishing the diagnosis. Treatment aimed at evacuating the pleural space without addressing the comorbid bladder obstruction led to an unfavorable outcome in this case.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

PubMed ID

41476697

Language

English

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