What does pleural effusion mean?

Pleural effusion is an affection that consists in the accumulation of liquid around the lungs. When this liquid contains cancerous cells it is called malignant pleural effusion.

The accumulation of liquid limits the natural movements of the lungs and this leads to heavy breathing and chest pain. However, you should know that pleural effusion is not a disease but a complication of a disorder and in order to treat it, patients undergo a thoracentesis as it helps to ameliorate the unpleasant symptoms mentioned before.

Comments from doctors

Pleural effusion consists in the collection of fluid in the pleural space of the lungs.
Some health care providers choose to perform a pleurodesis which is a procedure that can be done whether the pleural effusion is malignant or not and its main purpose is to remove all the liquid from the lung and make a diagnosis..
When the pleural effusion creates shortness of breath or you want to know its cause the typical approach is to drain the liquid using a thin needle. The procedure is called thoracentesis and it helps both to ameliorate the symptoms and to analyze the fluid.

We wanted a resource where people who are looking for better help can find it, because one of the issues that I have found is that the diagnosis takes a little bit, some people don’t know if they are diagnosed or not. This is something that it is important enough, that is why I wanted to put the information together.