Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Imaging of pleural effusions: a pictorial review

  • Pleural Diseases and Mesothelioma (G Lee, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Respiratory Care Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In the majority of pleural effusions, chest radiograph and transthoracic ultrasonography (TUS) are sufficient for clinical management. TUS is able to identify very small volumes of fluid, suggest a malignant etiology, and guide pleural procedures. Computed tomography is of particular value in pleural effusions of uncertain etiology, whereas positron emission tomography and, specifically, magnetic resonance imaging are solely indicated for very select cases. This pictorial review addresses the main radiological signs of frequently encountered causes of pleural effusions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance

  1. Porcel JM, Light RW. Pleural effusions. Dis Mon. 2013;59(2):29–57.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Light RW. Pleural diseases. 6th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2013.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Porcel JM, Esquerda A, Vives M, et al. Etiology of pleural effusions: analysis of more than 3,000 consecutive thoracenteses. Arch Bronconeumol (in press).

  4. Porcel JM. Diagnosis of pleural effusions. Hosp Med Clin. 2013;2:e337–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Brixey AG, Luo Y, Skouras V, et al. The efficacy of chest radiographs in detecting parapneumonic effusions. Respirology. 2011;16(6):1000–4.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Mortensen C, Bhatnagar R, Edey AJ. Imaging the pleura. Br J Hosp Med. 2012;73(11):626–32.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Tobin CL, Gary Lee YC, Gleeson F, Feller-Kopman D, Rahman N, eds. Pleural ultrasound for clinicians. CRC Press, 2014. In press. A comprehensive book that includes current and timely information on pleural ultrasound investigations and procedures.

  8. Bugalho A, Ferreira D, Dias SS, et al. The diagnostic value of transthoracic ultrasonographic features in predicting malignancy in undiagnosed pleural effusions: a prospective observational study. Respiration (in press).

  9. Raj V, Kirke R, Bankart MJ, et al. Multidetector CT imaging of pleura: comparison of two contrast infusion protocols. Br J Radiol. 2011;84(1005):796–9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Metintas M, Ucgun I, Elbek O, et al. Computed tomography features in malignant pleural mesothelioma and other commonly seen pleural diseases. Eur J Radiol. 2002;41(1):1–9.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Yilmaz U, Polat G, Sahin N, et al. CT in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant pleural disease. Monaldi Arch Chest Dis. 2005;63(1):17–22.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Heffner JE, Klein JS, Hampson C. Diagnostic utility and clinical application of imaging for pleural space infections. Chest. 2010;137(2):467–79.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Helm EJ, Matin TN, Gleeson FV. Imaging of the pleura. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2010;32(6):1275–86.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Duysinx BC, Larock MP, Nguyen D, et al. 18 F-FDG PET imaging in assessing exudative pleural effusions. Nucl Med Commun. 2006;27(12):971–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Jung MY, Chong A, Seon HJ, et al. Indeterminate pleural metastasis on contrast-enhanced chest CT in non-small cell lung cancer: improved differential diagnosis with 18 F-FDG PET/CT. Ann Nucl Med. 2012;26(4):327–36.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Compliance with Ethics Guidelines

Conflict of Interest

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pleural Diseases Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, Arnau de Vilanova University Hospital, Biomedical Research Institute of Lleida, Lleida, Spain

    José M. Porcel, Marina Pardina & Silvia Bielsa

Authors
  1. José M. Porcel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marina Pardina
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Silvia Bielsa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to José M. Porcel.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

ESM 1

(PPTX 88979 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Porcel, J.M., Pardina, M. & Bielsa, S. Imaging of pleural effusions: a pictorial review. Curr Respir Care Rep 3, 42–44 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13665-014-0076-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13665-014-0076-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation