Patients typically present to their GP, A & E or from another specialty with various symptoms including breathlessness, chest pain, cough, tiredness, etc. A chest X-ray can identify if a pleural effusion (fluid around the lung) or pleural mass is present. There are a number of investigations that can be carried out to ascertain a diagnosis but not all patients will require every investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A CT (computerised tomography) scan uses computers and a rotational X-ray machine to take cross sectional images of your body. It provides more detail than a X-ray and usually lasts no longer than 15-30 minutes. An injection containing a special dye called contrast can be used to highlight the images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A CT PET scan can help identify if a cancer has spread to other parts of your body. You will be given an injection called a radiotracer which goes around your body and highlights any abnormal areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pleural aspiration involves passing a small needle through the chest wall to remove fluid from around the lung under ultrasound guidance. This procedure can be used for diagnostic purposes or for therapeutic benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Local anaesthetic thoracoscopy (LAT) is a procedure where a special camera called a thoracoscope is inserted into the space between your chest wall and lung. Biopsies (small tissue samples) can be taken to help identify the cause of your illness and sometimes a special sterile talc can be inserted during this procedure to prevent fluid accumulating again. You will be given sedation for this procedure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A CT or USS guided biopsy is a procedure where a Radiologist will insert a needle under CT or ultrasound guidance to obtain a small tissue sample (biopsy). You will be given sedation for this procedure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Video Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS) is a surgical procedure which involves inserting a thoracoscope and other surgical instruments via a number of small incisions into your chest. It is used to obtain tissue (biopsies) to aid a diagnosis. It is slightly more invasive than LAT and is done under general anaesthetic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Patients typically present to their GP, A & E or from another specialty with various symptoms including breathlessness, chest pain, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":2884,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4442","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nn.nhs.scot\/scottishmesotheliomanetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nn.nhs.scot\/scottishmesotheliomanetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nn.nhs.scot\/scottishmesotheliomanetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nn.nhs.scot\/scottishmesotheliomanetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nn.nhs.scot\/scottishmesotheliomanetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4442"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.nn.nhs.scot\/scottishmesotheliomanetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6275,"href":"https:\/\/www.nn.nhs.scot\/scottishmesotheliomanetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4442\/revisions\/6275"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nn.nhs.scot\/scottishmesotheliomanetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nn.nhs.scot\/scottishmesotheliomanetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}