Diagnosaurus
Pleural effusion
Etiology
Transudates
- Congestive heart failure (most common)
- Cirrhosis with ascites
- Nephrotic syndrome
- Peritoneal dialysis
- Myxedema
- Acute atelectasis
- Constrictive pericarditis
- Superior vena cava obstruction
- Pulmonary embolism
- Urinothorax (due to obstructive uropathy)
- Pneumonia (parapneumonic effusion)
- Cancer
- Pulmonary embolism
- Empyema
- Tuberculosis
- Connective tissue disease (eg, rheumatoid arthritis)
- Viral infection
- Fungal infection
- Rickettsial infection
- Parasitic infection (eg, Paragonimus)
- Asbestos
- Meigs' syndrome
- Pancreatic disease
- Uremia
- Chronic atelectasis
- Trapped lung
- Chylothorax
- Sarcoidosis
- Drug reaction
- Post-myocardial infarction syndrome
- Esophageal rupture
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Last updated: December 1, 2014
Citation
Zeiger, Roni F.. "Pleural Effusion." Diagnosaurus, 4th ed., McGraw-Hill Education, 2014. Medicine Central, im.unboundmedicine.com/medicine/view/Diagnosaurus/114769/all/Pleural_effusion.
Zeiger RFR. Pleural effusion. Diagnosaurus. McGraw-Hill Education; 2014. https://im.unboundmedicine.com/medicine/view/Diagnosaurus/114769/all/Pleural_effusion. Accessed November 4, 2025.
Zeiger, R. F. (2014). Pleural effusion. In Diagnosaurus (4th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education. https://im.unboundmedicine.com/medicine/view/Diagnosaurus/114769/all/Pleural_effusion
Zeiger RFR. Pleural Effusion [Internet]. In: Diagnosaurus. McGraw-Hill Education; 2014. [cited 2025 November 04]. Available from: https://im.unboundmedicine.com/medicine/view/Diagnosaurus/114769/all/Pleural_effusion.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - ELEC
T1 - Pleural effusion
ID - 114769
A1 - Zeiger,Roni F,
Y1 - 2014/12/01/
BT - Diagnosaurus
UR - https://im.unboundmedicine.com/medicine/view/Diagnosaurus/114769/all/Pleural_effusion
PB - McGraw-Hill Education
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DB - Medicine Central
DP - Unbound Medicine
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