Table 1.
Terminology and definitions
| Terminology | Definition |
|---|---|
| Chylothorax (37) | Pleural fluid triglyceride concentration > 110 mg/dl |
| Malignant etiology | Positive cytology (including the presence of leukemic cells and/or blasts), pleural biopsy, or flow cytometry |
| Paramalignant etiology | Clinically ascribed in patients with negative cardiac work-up, pleural biopsy, cultures, cytology, and flow cytometry |
| Active malignancy | Patients currently receiving chemotherapy or patients with active disease noted in clinical documentation (and/or bone marrow pathology) |
| Local infection | Either IPC exit site or tunnel infection with no evidence of systemic infection and no intrapleural infection |
| Exit site infection | Erythema, tenderness, and induration only at the IPC exit site |
| Tunnel infection | Erythema, tenderness, and induration overlying the tunnel tract and extending more than 2 cm from the catheter exit site |
| Empyema | Infected pleural fluid on the basis of appearance, cultures, gram stain, or chemistries (LDH and glucose) |
| Major bleeding | Those that required a blood transfusion and/or additional interventions |
| Catheter obstruction | Persistent catheter blockage despite fibrinolytic agents requiring catheter removal followed by an additional palliative procedure for symptomatic relief |
| Catheter dislodgement | Inadvertent removal of IPC due to cuff dislodgement or iatrogenic causes |
| Sedation-related events | Those that resulted in hypoxia, altered mentation, or hemodynamic instability requiring further monitoring and/or intervention for IPCs placed under conscious sedation |
| Pleurodesis | After removal of IPC, diminution of dyspnea related to the effusion, with 50% or less reaccumulation of fluid when compared with preprocedure chest radiographs and without the need for further fluid drainage for 6 mo after IPC removal or death if prior |
| Significant IPC-related complication | An event requiring removal of IPC or escalation of care, including transfusion of blood products, admission to hospital, or transfer to higher level of care |
Definition of abbreviations: IPC = indwelling pleural catheter; LDH = lactate dehydrogenase.