Recurrence of malignant melanoma presenting as black-colored pyopneumothorax: a rare entity

We report a 63-year-old patient with black-colored pus (pyopneumothorax) resulting from an infected pleural effusion associated with metastatic malignant melanoma of the skin. The patient was also positive for Pseudomonas, so the color was unexpected. Although rare, malignant melanoma can present as...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ganesh Patel, Anil Saxena, Suman Khangarot, Rajendra Prasad Takhar, Dinesh Patel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre 2017-11-01
Series:Annals of Saudi Medicine
Online Access:https://www.annsaudimed.net/doi/full/10.5144/0256-4947.2017.469
Description
Summary:We report a 63-year-old patient with black-colored pus (pyopneumothorax) resulting from an infected pleural effusion associated with metastatic malignant melanoma of the skin. The patient was also positive for Pseudomonas, so the color was unexpected. Although rare, malignant melanoma can present as a black pleural effusion due to the presence of melanocytes in the pleural fluid. Black pleural fluid should raise the suspicion of malignant melanoma. SIMILAR CASES PUBLISHED: Nine cases of black pleural effusion due to different causes have been reported.1,2 Three cases of black pleural effusion due to metastatic malignant melanoma are published.2,6,7
ISSN:0256-4947
0975-4466