{
  "abstract": "Background and objective While the management of traumatic chylothorax has advanced over the past two decades, outcomes for non-traumatic chylothorax remain poor, with a paucity of data to guide management and prognostication.Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of patients diagnosed with chylothorax between January 2020 and December 2024. Clinical data including interventions and clinical outcomes were recorded.Results We evaluated 40 patients with a median age of 61 (IQR: 50–72) years. Cancer was the most common cause (67.5%), of which 18 (45%) patients had solid-organ malignancies and 9 (22.5%) had haematological malignancies. Other aetiologies included drug-induced (10%) and liver cirrhosis (7.5%). Despite dietary measures implemented in 65.0% of patients, 52.5% of patients required ≥2 pleural interventions, with chest drain and indwelling pleural catheter insertions performed in 32 (80.0%) and 8 (20.0%) patients, respectively. Lymphatic imaging was infrequently (20.0%) performed, with chyle leak identified in only one patient. The 90-day and 1-year mortality was 37.5% and 55.0%, respectively, with the highest 1-year mortality rates seen with solid organ cancers (83.3%) and liver cirrhosis (66.7%). Eighteen (45.0%) patients had clinical resolution of chylothorax, and this was highest in patients with drug-induced chylothorax (100.0%) followed by patients with haematological malignancies (66.7%).Conclusion Non-traumatic chylothorax secondary to haematological malignancies and drugs have more favourable outcomes compared with solid organ cancers and liver cirrhosis. This highlights the need for a personalised and multidisciplinary approach to the management of chylothorax.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Respiratory Medicine, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore"
      ],
      "name": "Brian Lee Wei Chua"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Respiratory Medicine, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore"
      ],
      "name": "Si Ling Young"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore"
      ],
      "name": "Qiao Li Tan"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore"
      ],
      "name": "Carrie Kah-Lai Leong"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Division of Nursing, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore"
      ],
      "name": "Jane Jing Yi Wong"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Division of Nursing, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore"
      ],
      "name": "Ivana Gilcrist Chiew Sian Phua"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Division of Nursing, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore"
      ],
      "name": "Wen Ting Lim"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore"
      ],
      "name": "Ken Junyang Goh"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Clinical outcomes of non-traumatic chylothorax at a Singapore tertiary referral hospital",
  "uid": "828170a3-6608-5beb-bed6-a04962beceba"
}