Clinical and etiological profile of patients with Pleural Effusion: A retrospective cross–sectional study in north India

Dr. Mohd Arif Siddiqui; Dr.V.K.Srivastava

Volume : VI, Issue : V, May - 2016

Clinical and etiological profile of patients with Pleural Effusion: A retrospective cross–sectional study in north India

Dr. Mohd Arif Siddiqui, Dr. V. K. Srivastava

Abstract :

Objective: To evaluate the Clinical and etiological profile of patients with Pleural Effusion. Methods: This was a retrospective cross–sectional hospital based study. The data was taken from medical record section. A total of 130 cases diagnosed with pleural effusion by chest x–ray (poster–anterior, anterioposterior and lateral view), and ultrasonogram were included in the study. Results: More than half pleural patients were between 20–40 years (60%) and were males (66.9%). Majority of pleural patients presented with chest pain (78.5%) followed by cough (50.7%), fever (46.1%) and eathlessness (32.2%). The small extent of pleural effusion was seen among 53.1% patients and moderate was in 30.7% patients. The large extent of pleural effusion was observed in 16.2% patients. The right side (46.9%) of pleural effusion was found to be most common. Exudative was among majority of pleural patients (90.8%). Tuberculosis (64.6%) was the most common etiology. Conclusion: We found various presenting features for pleural effusion. Thoracoscopy should be done if all the other investigative modalities fail to yield a confirmatory result.