‘White out’: a rare cause
- 1Respiratory Medicine, St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Prescot, UK
- 2Radiology Department, St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Prescot, UK
- Correspondence to Dr Gurinder Tack, Respiratory Medicine, St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Prescot, UK; g.tack{at}nhs.net
- Received 23 November 2011
- Accepted 19 January 2012
- Published Online First 14 February 2012
A patient in their mid-40s presented with a history of worsening dyspnoea. The patient had neurofibromatosis type 1 and had previous spinal surgery for kyphoscoliosis.
A chest x-ray showed a right sided ‘white out’, thought to be a pleural effusion (figure 1A). CT thorax showed a thoracic scoliosis with internal fixation and a large fluid collection within the right hemithorax. A chest drain was scheduled to be inserted.
Figure 1
(A) Chest x-ray showing marked scoliosis with …
