Our experience corroborates that EP carries a high mortality risk, underscoring the need for prompt diagnosis. Although Candida species were present in only a small subset of pleural fluid samples, the presence of squamous cells or food/foreign material is a helpful diagnostic clue of EP, particularly in patients with a history of recent medical manipulation or malignancy involving the esophagus. Our findings highlight the potential of identifying involved pleural fluid cytology specimens to decrease the time to diagnosis of EP.
Marshall et al. (Mon,) studied this question.