ABSTRACT

Introduction: Pleural effusion is a frequent pathology, representing 4-10% of respiratory pathologies in pulmonologist services. The principal causes reported are congestive heart failure followed by tuberculosis and neoplasms. In our hospital, pleural effusion is the second leading cause of hospital admissions, provoking clinical interest to determine its prevalence and etiology for management and appropriate treatment. Objective: To determine the prevalence and etiology of pleural effusions during the period from March 2011 to March 2012 in the Pulmonologist Service of our hospital. Material and methods: Observational, descriptive, prospective and cross-sectional study. Patients › 15 years of age with a diagnosis of pleural effusion were included in the study. Clinical files were reviewed, diagnostic x-rays were carried out and diagnostic procedure and treatment provided were reported. SPSS v.19.0 was used for statistical analysis. Results: One hundred thirty eight patients were evaluated: 45 females (32.60%) and 93 males (67.4%) with a mean age of 56.1 (± 15.8) years. Prevalence of pleural effusion in the UMAE was 11.87/1162 admissions/year. Bacterial infections were predominant with 63 (45.7%) cases followed by 45 neoplasm’s (32.6%) cases. There were 23 cases (16.7%) without diagnostic conclusion and 7 (5.1%) cases of transudation type. Conclusions: Prevalence of pleural effusion is between 4% and 13%, similar to what is reported in the national and international literature. Bacterial infection was the predominant cause.

KEYWORDS

Prevalence, pleural effusion, empyema, pleural tuberculosis, neoplasm.

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