Intrapleural instillation of quinacrine for treatment of recurrent spontaneous pneumothorax.

We used intrapleural instillation of quinacrine hydrochloride in 20 patients (Group A) with recurrent spontaneous pneumothorax (one bilateral) and compared their clinical course with 19 patients who underwent thoracotomy and scarification or pleurectomy (Group B) and 63 patients treated by tube thoracostomy alone (Group C). In Group A, there was one complication of treatment, a pneumothorax immediately following tube removal, which necessitated repeat tube thoracostomy, and there was one late ipsilateral recurrence 2 years after treatment. These 20 patients with 21 recurrent spontaneous pneumothoraces treated with intrapleurally administered quinacrine have been followed for from 6 months to more than 4 years with only one late recurrence on the treated side. Eight patients in Group B had postoperative complications: 2 patients who had had pleurectomy required reoperation for postoperative bleeding; lobar pneumonia developed in 3; 1 had lack of total expansion of the lung; an intrathoracic hematoma developed in 1; and an ipsilateral pneumothorax necessitating tube thoracostomy developed in 1. In Group C, the rate of recurrence of pneumothorax was 23% during the first year following treatment. Intrapleural instillation of quinacrine is a simple, low-risk, reliable, and effective treatment for recurrent spontaneous pneumothorax, and is equally as effective as thoracotomy and scarification.