Help diagnosing chyle leak

Posted by antigone26 @antigone26, Sep 4 2:26pm

Since surgery at May on April I have been experiencing worsening symptoms consistent with a chyle leak. Who at Mayo can help me determine if a chyle leak is present? The surgeon seems uninterested in helping me and my primary care provider did not know what a chyle leak is.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Lymphedema Support Group.

Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Sep 4 4:47pm

@antigone26,
Chylothorax is a rare condition where milky lymphatic fluid (chyle) builds up in the space between the lungs and the chest wall. Chylothorax is treated at Mayo Clinic by experts in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.

If you wish to request an appointment, you can start here: https://mayocl.in/1mtmR63

What type of surgery did you have?

antigone26 | @antigone26 | Sep 5 8:31pm

I had kidney surgery.

antigone26 | @antigone26 | Sep 7 4:54pm

In reply to @colleenyoung "@antigone26, Chylothorax is a rare condition where milky lymphatic fluid (chyle) builds up in the space..." + (show)

@colleenyoung

Thank you for your reply. I don’t appear to have chylothorax but do have other symptoms of a chyle leak including chyle exuding from skin and mucus membranes. Would diagnosing such a leak also fall under pulmonary?

Thank you