Pleural diseases

Question 1

clinical presentation: pleural effusion

Answer 1

cough
dyspnea
nonspecific discomfort
occasional pleuritic chest pain

Question 2

physical findings: pleural effusion

Answer 2

hypoxia 
tachypnea 
dullness on percussion 
decreased breath sounds 
bronchial breathing 
mediastinal shift

Question 3

pleural effusion transudate / exudate is assessed from which ratios?

Answer 3

pleural fluid protein / serum

pleural fluid LDH / serum LDH

Question 4

what are the most common reasons for a pleural effusion transudate?

Answer 4

CHF
PE
cirrhosis
nephrotic syndrome

Question 5

what are the most common reasons for pleural effusion exudates?

Answer 5

infection
tumor
trauma
inflammatory conditions

Question 6

what is the pH of pleural fluid for an empyema?

Answer 6

pH less than 7.2

Question 7

what is the general cause of a cholesterol effusion?

Answer 7

long standing chronic pleural effusions

Question 8

what lab value is indicative of a hemothorax?

Answer 8

pleural fluid HCT / serum HCT over 0.5

Question 9

what is a chemical pleurodesis? when is it used?

Answer 9

administration of a sclerosing agent, or irritant, into the pleural space to essentially cauterize

for recurrent pleural effusion which initially responded to simple thoracentesis