Overview
Pleural effusion refers to the accumulation of fluid in the pleural space, complicating diagnosis and management due to diverse etiologies ranging from benign to malignant causes. Accurate differentiation is crucial for appropriate treatment and prognosis.Diagnosis
Management
Special Populations
Key Recommendations
References
Showing 100 most recent of 180 indexed papers.
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The Impact of Clinically Significant Pleural Effusion on Survival of US Veterans With Cancer, Congestive Heart Failure, and Pneumonia: The Veterans Administration Lung Effusion Study. Chest 2025. link 10 Sundaralingam A, Grabczak EM, Burra P, Costa MI, George V, Harriss E et al.. ERS statement on benign pleural effusions in adults. The European respiratory journal 2024. link 11 Chen Y, Huang J, Chen H, Ma L, Dou M, Zhao Q et al.. Sysmex XN-9000 Hematology Analyzer Can Provide Reference for the Classification of Nucleated Cells in Body Fluid and Detect Malignant Serous Effusion. Annals of clinical and laboratory science 2024. link 12 Kassirian S, Hinton SN, Cuninghame S, Chaudhary R, Iansavitchene A, Amjadi K et al.. Diagnostic sensitivity of pleural fluid cytology in malignant pleural effusions: systematic review and meta-analysis. Thorax 2023. link 13 Botana Rial M, Pérez Pallarés J, Cases Viedma E, López González FJ, Porcel JM, Rodríguez M et al.. 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A pleural ultrasound image of a collapsed lung surrounded by pleural fluid ("jellyfish sign") may correspond to an intrapericardial mass. Journal of ultrasound 2022. link 23 Kamio T, Iizuka Y, Koyama H, Fukaguchi K. Adverse events related to thoracentesis and chest tube insertion: evaluation of the national collection of subject safety incidents in Japan. European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society 2022. link 24 Porcel JM. Nonmalignant Pleural Effusions. Seminars in respiratory and critical care medicine 2022. link 25 Hung L, Hopper BJ, Lenard Z. Retrospective analysis of radiographic signs in feline pleural effusions to predict disease aetiology. BMC veterinary research 2022. link 26 Tamburrini M, Desai U, Fanti G, Scarda A, Zampieri F, Zuccon U et al.. Medical thoracoscopy without pleural fluid: How I do it. 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Journal of bronchology & interventional pulmonology 2020. link 32 Chen F, Dai L, An J, Zeng N, Chen L, Shen Y. Diagnostic accuracy of E-cadherin for malignanteffusions: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Postgraduate medical journal 2020. link 33 Hardak E, Peled E, Crispel Y, Ghanem S, Attias J, Asayag K et al.. Heparan sulfate chains contribute to the anticoagulant milieu in malignant pleural effusion. Thorax 2020. link 34 Tamburrini M, Desai U, Zuccon U. Novel complications of the tunnelled indwelling pleural catheter. Pulmonology 2020. link 35 Karpathiou G, Peoc'h M. Pleura revisited: From histology and pathophysiology to pathology and molecular biology. The clinical respiratory journal 2019. link 36 Carlucci P, Trigiani M, Mori PA, Mondoni M, Pinelli V, Casalini AG et al.. Competence in pleural procedures. Panminerva medica 2019. link 37 Li P, Hosseini S, Zhang T, Amjadi K. Clinical Predictors of Successful and Earlier Removal of Indwelling Pleural Catheters in Benign Pleural Effusions. Respiration; international review of thoracic diseases 2019. link 38 Vinck EE, Garzón JC, Peterson T, Villarreal R, Cabrera L, Van den Eijnden L. Tension hydrothorax: Emergency decompression of a pleural cause of cardiac tamponade. The American journal of emergency medicine 2018. link 39 Vakil E, Sarkiss M, Ost D, Vial MR, Casal RF, Eapen GA et al.. Safety of Monitored Anesthesia Care Using Propofol-Based Sedation for Pleuroscopy. Respiration; international review of thoracic diseases 2018. link 40 de Fonseka D, Bhatnagar R, Maskell NA. Local Anaesthetic (Medical) Thoracoscopy Services in the UK. Respiration; international review of thoracic diseases 2018. link 41 Katlic MR. Five Hundred Seventy-Six Cases of Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery Using Local Anesthesia and Sedation: Lessons Learned. Journal of the American College of Surgeons 2018. link 42 Mahé J, de Campaigno EP, Chené AL, Montastruc JL, Despas F, Jolliet P. Pleural adverse drugs reactions and protein kinase inhibitors: Identification of suspicious targets by disproportionality analysis from VigiBase. British journal of clinical pharmacology 2018. link 43 Voulgaris T, Anevlavis S, Karpathiou G, Forest F, Koulelidis A, Froudarakis M. Dabigatran can cause eosinophilic pleural and pericardial effusion with blood eosinophilia. The clinical respiratory journal 2018. link 44 Bramley K, DeBiasi E, Puchalski J. Indwelling Pleural Catheter Placement for Nonmalignant Pleural Effusions. Seminars in respiratory and critical care medicine 2018. link 45 Porcel JM. Biomarkers in the diagnosis of pleural diseases: a 2018 update. Therapeutic advances in respiratory disease 2018. link 46 Miller C, Bridges E, Laxmanan B, Cox-North P, Thompson H. Tunneled Pleural Catheter: Treatment for Recurrent Pleural Effusion. AACN advanced critical care 2018. link 47 Saraya T, Ohkuma K, Watanabe T, Mikura S, Kobayashi F, Aso J et al.. Diagnostic Value of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor, Transforming Growth Factor-β, Interleukin-8, and the Ratio of Lactate Dehydrogenase to Adenosine Deaminase in Pleural Effusion. Lung 2018. link 48 Ruiz MD, Vessières F, Ragetly GR, Hernandez JL. Characterization of and factors associated with causes of pleural effusion in cats. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 2018. link 49 Mahmud T, Nasir T, Saqib M, Aasim M, Siddique N. Simulation training using cadaver sheep chest in pleuroscopy - A step towards skills enhancement. JPMA. The Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association 2017. link 50 Williamson JP, Twaddell SH, Lee YC, Salamonsen M, Hew M, Fielding D et al.. Thoracic ultrasound recognition of competence: A position paper of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand. Respirology (Carlton, Vic.) 2017. link 51 Ferreiro L, Porcel JM, Valdés L. Diagnosis and Management of Pleural Transudates. Archivos de bronconeumologia 2017. link 52 Herrera Lara S, Fernández-Fabrellas E, Juan Samper G, Marco Buades J, Andreu Lapiedra R, Pinilla Moreno A et al.. Predicting Malignant and Paramalignant Pleural Effusions by Combining Clinical, Radiological and Pleural Fluid Analytical Parameters. Lung 2017. link 53 Zennaro L, Vanzani P, Nicolè L, Cappellesso R, Fassina A. Metabonomics by proton nuclear magnetic resonance in human pleural effusions: A route to discriminate between benign and malignant pleural effusions and to target small molecules as potential cancer biomarkers. Cancer cytopathology 2017. link 54 Bhatnagar R, Corcoran JP, Maldonado F, Feller-Kopman D, Janssen J, Astoul P et al.. Advanced medical interventions in pleural disease. European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society 2016. link 55 Amado CA, García-Unzueta MT, Fariñas MC, Santos F, Ortiz M, Muñoz-Cacho P et al.. Vitamin D nutritional status and vitamin D regulated antimicrobial peptides in serum and pleural fluid of patients with infectious and noninfectious pleural effusions. BMC pulmonary medicine 2016. link 56 DeBiasi E, Puchalski J. Pleural effusions as markers of mortality and disease severity: a state-of-the-art review. Current opinion in pulmonary medicine 2016. link 57 Bintcliffe OJ, Hooper CE, Rider IJ, Finn RS, Morley AJ, Zahan-Evans N et al.. Unilateral Pleural Effusions with More Than One Apparent Etiology. A Prospective Observational Study. Annals of the American Thoracic Society 2016. link 58 DeBiasi EM, Pisani MA, Murphy TE, Araujo K, Kookoolis A, Argento AC et al.. Mortality among patients with pleural effusion undergoing thoracentesis. The European respiratory journal 2015. link 59 Breen DP, Daneshvar C. Role of interventional pulmonology in the management of complicated parapneumonic pleural effusions and empyema. 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Parietal pleural hematoma: plausible aortic dissection in an octogenarian on multiple antiplatelets, coumadin and oral steroids. General thoracic and cardiovascular surgery 2014. link 65 Lam CW, Law CY. Pleural effusion lipoproteins measured by NMR spectroscopy for diagnosis of exudative pleural effusions: a novel tool for pore-size estimation. Journal of proteome research 2014. link 66 Putnam B, Elahi A, Bowling MR. Do we measure pleural fluid pH correctly?. Current opinion in pulmonary medicine 2013. link 67 Keuren JF, Hoffmann JJ, Leers MP. Analysis of serous body fluids using the CELL-DYN Sapphire hematology analyzer. Clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine 2013. link 68 Shujaat A, Bajwa AA, Usman F, Jones L, Cury JD. Safety and accuracy of semirigid pleuroscopy performed by pulmonary fellows at a major university hospital: our initial experience. Journal of bronchology & interventional pulmonology 2013. link 69 Rozman A, Camlek L, Marc-Malovrh M, Triller N, Kern I. Rigid versus semi-rigid thoracoscopy for the diagnosis of pleural disease: a randomized pilot study. Respirology (Carlton, Vic.) 2013. link 70 Metintas M, Ak G, Yildirim H, Danacioglu S, Dundar E, Metintas S. The safety of medical thoracoscopy in a group at high risk for complications. Journal of bronchology & interventional pulmonology 2013. link 71 Görgün D, Seçik F, Midilli K, Akkaya V, Yıldız P. Diagnostic and prognostic significance of survivin levels in malignant pleural effusion. Respiratory medicine 2013. link 72 Doelken P, Huggins JT, Goldblatt M, Nietert P, Sahn SA. Effects of coexisting pneumonia and end-stage renal disease on pleural fluid analysis in patients with hydrostatic pleural effusion. Chest 2013. link 73 Porcel JM. Identifying transudates misclassified by Light's criteria. Current opinion in pulmonary medicine 2013. link 74 Ogunleye EO. Principles of chest tube insertion. 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