ABSTRACT
Pleural diseases are common in daily clinical practice and are often diagnostic and management challenges. Pleural diseases most frequently present as a pleural effusion or pneumothorax. Pleural effusion affects up to 1 million people each year in the United States alone. It can complicate pulmonary diseases, especially infections and malignancies, but can also originate from extrapleural causes due to heart, liver, gastrointestinal, kidney, and collagen vascular diseases.
