Mesothelioma and nonexpandable lung

Kentucky residents who have a nonexpandable lung may have malignant mesothelioma. The lungs of people with malignant mesothelioma are unable to expand to the chest wall, which makes it difficult for them to inhale and exhale normally. This inability of the lung to expand properly can be the result of fibrotic changes in the chest cavity and of inflammation. According to researchers who examined patients who were diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, a nonexpendable lung in cancer patients who can be an accurate indicator of patient mortality.

The researchers state the nonexpandable lung condition in patients with mesothelioma can exacerbate coughing and shortness of breath. The researchers conducted a study to determine the prevalence of unexpandable lung in mesothelioma patients and how the condition affected their survival.

For the study, 229 people who were patients at a malignant mesothelioma facility at some time from 2008 to 2017 were evaluated. Most of the patients were determined to be able to perform light work, while being prohibited from strenuous activity, or were classified as fully active. Pleural effusion was present in 83.8 percent of the patients, 33.3 percent of whom had nonexpendable lung and the majority of whom whose smaller area of lung expansion was smaller than their area of pleural effusions.

The median survival time for the malignant mesothelioma patients was 11.1 months. When the data was adjusted to show if the patients did or did not have pleural effusions, a direct relationship between mortality and nonexpendable lung was confirmed.

A personal injury attorney may work to obtain financial compensation on behalf of patients whose mesothelioma resulted from another party’s negligence regarding asbestos. The negligent parties may be sued for the exposure to asbestos or for creating products containing asbestos that contributed to a client’s mesothelioma.