what are common symptoms of a pleural effusion?!


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Dyspnea is the most common symptom associated with pleural effusion and is related more to distortion of the diaphragm and chest wall during respiration than to hypoxemia. In many patients, drainage of pleural fluid alleviates symptoms despite limited improvement in gas exchange.
Underlying intrinsic lung or heart disease, obstructing endobronchial lesions, or diaphragmatic paralysis can also cause dyspnea, especially after coronary artery bypass surgery.
Drainage of pleural fluid may partially relieve symptoms but also may allow the underlying disease to be recognized on repeat chest radiographs.
Less common symptoms of pleural effusions include mild, nonproductive cough or chest pain.
Other symptoms may suggest the etiology of the pleural effusion.
More severe cough or production of purulent or bloody sputum suggests an underlying pneumonia or endobronchial lesion.
Constant chest wall pain may reflect chest wall invasion by bronchogenic carcinoma or malignant mesothelioma.
Pleuritic chest pain suggests either pulmonary embolism or an inflammatory pleural process.
Systemic toxicity evidenced by fever, weight loss, and inanition suggests empyema.
Physical: Physical findings, which do not usually manifest until pleural effusions exceed 300 mL, include the following:

Decreased breath sounds
Dullness to percussion
Decreased tactile fremitus
Egophony (E-to-A change)
Pleural friction rub
Mediastinal shift away from the effusion (observed with effusions >1000 mL): Displacement of the trachea and mediastinum toward the side of the effusion is an important clue to obstruction of a lobar bronchus by an endobronchial lesion, which can be due to malignancy or, less commonly, a nonmalignant cause such as a foreign body.

Other Answers:
Pain when breathing in.
shortness of breath, fatigue, frequent coughing but no phlegm, and doesn't go away with regular cough medicines-this is because the lungs are irritated whenver the fluid moves. large white area on xray results

there are more though. my mother has had this. not a good condition.have an x-ray and see doctor immediately to confirm.

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The common symptoms are
-asymptomatic if amount is small
-dyspnoic(common)
-pleuritic chest pain
-symptoms of the underlying diseases(eg-chronic cough,low grade evening rise in temperature in TB)

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