Other names: accumulation of fluid in the pleural cavity empyema

The pleura is a thin lining of the thoracic cavity consist of flat cells and a layer of binder. Has two sheets, the first of which closely encloses the lung (visceral pleura) and the other adjacent to the chest wall (wall pleura). When breathing by himself both sheets rubbing to reduce resistance friction is present a small amount of liquid. With the increased amount of fluid in the pleural cavity between the sheets are talking about effusion. It is a symptom that can detect only physician on chest examination.

Its most common cause is a failure of the pumping of the heart, in which the pressure increases in the pulmonary vascular bed and the fluid after pressure gradient “filtered” into the pleural cavity.Similarly, when there is effusion, pulmonary embolism, a blockage of the pulmonary artery embolus coming from other body parts.

Inflammatory exudation occurs when impaired lung tissue infection with viruses, fungi or bacteria.The initially clear effusion may be gradually occupied by the amount of white blood cells and microorganisms; we talk about empyema, or pus in the chest cavity. Empyema arises even when caving lung abscess (pus-filled cavity bounded) into the pleural cavity.

Along with the swelling of limbs and water in the abdomen (ascites) with effusion occurs at low protein intake or failure of a blood protein in liver disease.

Finally, they can be to blame and lung tumors or tumors pleura, both primary tumors (tumor derived from the tissue where it is located) or metastasis (spread of cancer cells from the primary lesion located elsewhere in the body).