Prospective Evaluation of Patients With Pleural Effusion

Having a pleural effusion is a common reason for being hospitalized, as it usually requires in-patient care for invasive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Specific subtypes of pleural effusion may warrant recurrent admissions, a longer hospital stay and consume more healthcare resources. Despite the recent advancement of pleural medicine, better research is increasingly desired to fill the gaps in establishing an early diagnosis and optimal management of pleural effusion from various causes. Local data on different aspects of pleural effusion is also lacking.