Pleurisy
- Pleurisy Overview
- Pleurisy Causes
- Pleurisy Symptoms
- When to Seek Medical Care
- Exams and Tests
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- Viewer Comments: Pleurisy (Pleuritis) - How Was Diagnosis Established
Pleurisy Overview
The pleura is a two layered sac that holds the lungs and separates them from the chest wall, diaphragm, and heart. Pleurisy results from an inflammation of this sac.
The pleura that lines the inside of the chest is called the parietal pleura. The pleura that covers the lungs is called the visceral pleura. If you are healthy, the pleura is separated by a thin layer of fluid. This lets the lungs expand and contract easily during breathing. The inflammation that occurs with pleurisy can cause pain with breathing and may even cause a large amount of fluid to collect in the pleural sac.
Pleurisy can go away on its own or worsen so that fluid has to be drained from around the lungs. Some people develop scar tissue called adhesions after they have pleurisy. They then have chronic pain or shortness of breath.
Next: Pleurisy Causes »
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Pleurisy (Pleuritis) - How Was Diagnosis Established
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Pleurisy
Are X-rays Safe?
The use of X-rays allows physicians to look inside the body to diagnosis an injury or illness. When done for appropriate situations, X-rays are safe and beneficial. It is important that X-rays are not misused or overused because over a lifetime, a person may be exposed to a fairly large amount of cumulative radiation, and it is important than the benefit of each X-ray test be considered before it is done.
Radiologic technologists are trained to use the least amount of radiation possible to produce an image that will help with diagnosis. The technologist or the radiologist (the physician who supervises the testing and then interprets the X-ray images) is often able to tell the patient how much radiation is being used.
If you ask, and are told a dose of radiation, you may not understand what a dose of 1 millisievert (mSv) might mean. But if this effective dose is converted into the amount of time it would take you to accumulate the sa...
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Pleural Effusion »
Approximately 1 million pleural effusions are diagnosed in the United States each year.
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