Diseases in Pulmonary Medicine: Pleural Effusion and Pneumothorax Flashcards
First step in the diagnostic approach of pleural effusion
Determine whtether effusion is a transudate or exudate
Leading causes of transudative pleural effusion
LV failure and cirrhosis
Leading causes of exudative pleural effusion
Bacterial pneumonia, malignancy, viral infection, pulmonary embolism
Most common cause of chylorus pleural effusion
Malignancy
Second most common type of exudative pleural effusion
Malignant pleural effusions secondary to metastatic disease
Three tumors that cause ~75% of all malignant pleural effusions
Lung CA, breast CA, lymphoma
The only symptom that can be attributed to the effusion itself (in effusion from malignancy)
dyspnea
most commonly overlooked in the differential diagnosis of a patient with an undiagnosed effusion
pulmonary embolism
In many parts of the world, most common cause of an exudative pleural effusion
Tuberculosis
Most common cause of chylothorax
Trauma
Treatment choice of most chylothoraces
Insertion of a chest tube plus administration of octreotide
Most hemothoraces are a result of
Trauma
First step in evaluating a mediastinal mass
Place it in one of the three mediastinal compartments
Most common lesion in anterior mediastinum
Thymomas
Lymphomas
Teratomatous neoplasms
Thyroid masses
Most common masses in the middle mediastinum
Vascular masses
Lymph node enlargement from metastases or granulomatous disease
Pleuropericardial and bronchiogenic cysts
