Abstract: Objective:To explore the etiology of chylothorax by analyzing the clinical data of one patient with chylothorax and combining with the review of relative literatures, and to improve the ability of clinicians for understanding the rare etiology of chylothorax. Methods: A young female with cough, chest pain and dyspnea as the first symptom was admitted to the hospital. Left lymph node enlargement in the neck of the patient was found in examination and bilateral pleural effusion was found in chest CT scanning. After puncture drainage and testing,the pleural effusion was confirmed the chylothorax.Since the examinations for common causes of chylothorax produced negative results, the patient was eventually diagnosed as infectious chylothorax. The patient received anti-infective therapy for 5 d. Results: After treatment, the symptoms of the patients were improved obviously; the pleural effusion disappeared, and the lymph nodes in the neck were shrink detected with chest color ultrasound. One month after follow-up, all the symptoms, enlarged lymph nodes and pleural effusion were recovered. There was no abnormity in chest CT. Conclusion: The possibility of infection should be considered in clinic for the patients with atypical chylothorax and anti-infective treatment should be performed in order to avoid the failed diagnosis and misdiagnosis.

Key words: case report, lymphadenopathy, chylothorax, pleural effusion, infection