PURPOSE OF REVIEW Pleural effusions commonly occur in patients with left heart failure. However, there is increasing evidence that patients with pulmonary hypertension and isolated right heart failure frequently have pleural effusions. RECENT FINDINGS Three recent studies have evaluated the incidence of pleural effusions without an alternate explanation in patients with idiopathic/familial pu...

background: blind percutaneous pleural biopsy has traditionally been performed to investigate the etiology of exudative pleural effusion in which the initial thoracocentesis has been non- diagnostic. in view of the increasing use of image-guided and thoracoscopic pleural biopsies, this study examined the role of blind abrams pleural biopsy in the investigation of the exudative pleural effusion ...

Differential diagnosis of pleural effusion is an important issue, since the treatment modalities and prognosis strictly depend on early and correct diagnosis of the underlying etiology. We assessed the efficacy of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the differential diagnosis of patients with malignant and non-malignant pleural diseases. And also is assessed of the VEGF as a marker for...

pleural disease is a common problem in patients with chronic renal insufficiency. In 1836, Bright reported that only 29% of patients with albuminous urine had healthy pleura at autopsy.1 There are several reasons why pleural disease may be common in patients with renal failure. These include congestive heart failure, an increased risk of infection, the presence of diseases associated with renal...

There are myriad causes of unexplained dyspnea and pleural effusion. When a patient presents with these symptoms, an underlying pulmonary pathology is the commonly suggested etiology. We present a patient with unexplained dyspnea and recurrent right-side pleural effusion who was evaluated with thorough physical examination and definitive imaging modalities, including right and left heart cathet...

Five patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) were studied to determine whether CYFRA 21-1 is useful for diagnosis of this disease. In pleural effusions, the median concentration of CYFRA 21-1 from 4 patients with MPM was significantly higher than for 34 patients with benign diseases. The sensitivity of serum CYFRA 21-1 for diagnosis of MPM was 40% and its concentration changed in pro...

BACKGROUND Multiloculated pleural effusion is a life-threatening condition that needs early recognition. Drainage by chest tube might be difficult which necessitates a surgical intervention. While x-ray typically does not show loculations, CT scan might not also identify the loculations. Ultrasound has a high sensitivity in detecting pleural diseases including multiloculated pleural effusion. ...

The burden of a number of pleural diseases continues to increase internationally. Although many pleural procedures have historically been the domain of interventional radiologists or thoracic surgeons, in recent years, there has been a marked expansion in the techniques available to the pulmonologist. This has been due in part to both technological advancements and a greater recognition that pl...

OBJECTIVE To describe clinical and laboratory characteristics in patients with tuberculosis-related or lymphoma-related lymphocytic pleural effusions, in order to identify the variables that might contribute to differentiating between these diseases. METHODS This was a retrospective study involving 159 adult HIV-negative patients with tuberculosis-related or lymphoma-related lymphocytic effus...