ABSTRACT
Historical and clinical findings will help the clinician determine the origin of the respiratory disease and generate a list of differential diagnoses. Assessment of body condition is useful in the evaluation of diseases where weight loss and poor body condition are indicative of chronic conditions (e.g. chronic pneumonia/ pleuritis, neoplasia, RAO, chronic pain). The presence of ventral edema is often visible with pleural disease as a result of decreased lymphatic return (e.g. pleural effusion, pleuropneumonia, thoracic lymphoma).
