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Pleural Effusion

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Cancer

  • 233 Accesses

Synonyms

Malignant pleural effusion; Pleurodesis; Thoracentesis

Definition

Pleural effusion is the presence of excessive fluid in the pleural cavity. The pleura is a two-sheet, serous membrane that covers the chest wall, mediastinum (parietal pleura), and lungs (visceral pleura). Between the parietal and visceral pleura, there is a virtual space filled with a small liquid pellicle with a high daily turnover which permits sliding. Daily fluid production is about 0.01–0.02 mL kg−1 h−1 being continuously absorbed in a way that remaining the pleural fluid is about 0.1–0.2 mL kg−1. Fluid movement and absorption are supported by a balance between plasmatic and pleural pressures (hydrostatic and oncotic pressures) and thoracic lymphatic drainage. Pleural effusions occur because of an upset in these mechanisms that reabsorb the fluid normally present in the pleural space.

Characteristics

Pleural effusion is a common clinical problem seen at the advanced stage of several malignant diseases and...

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References

  • Gasparri R, Leo F, Veronesi G et al (2006) Video-assisted management of malignant pleural effusion in breast carcinoma. Cancer 106:271–276

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  • Rusch VW (2002) Pleural effusion: benign and malignant. In: Thoracic surgery, 2nd edn. Churchill Livingstone, New York, pp 1157–1170

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  • Terracciano D, Di Carlo A, Papa P et al (2004) New approaches in the diagnostic procedure of malignant pleural effusions. Oncol Rep 12:79–83

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  • Villena V, Lopez-Encuentra A, Echave-Sustaeta J et al (2003) Diagnostic value of CA 549 in pleural fluid. Comparison with CEA, CA 15–3 and CA 72–4. Lung Cancer 40:289–294

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See Also

  • (2012) Malignant pleural effusion. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 2149. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_3516

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  • (2012) Pleural biopsy. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 2923. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_4624

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  • (2012) Pleuroperitoneal shunting. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 2927. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_4628

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  • (2012) Pneumothorax. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 2932. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_4649

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  • (2012) Thoracentesis. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 3672. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_5782

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Thoracic Surgery, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy

    Juliana Guarize

  2. University of Milan School of Medicine, Milan, Italy

    Lorenzo Spaggiari

Authors
  1. Juliana Guarize
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  2. Lorenzo Spaggiari
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Juliana Guarize .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Abt. Tumorgenetik, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany

    Manfred Schwab

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Guarize, J., Spaggiari, L. (2014). Pleural Effusion. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_4625-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_4625-4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27841-9

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