Cirrhotic pleural effusion in the absence of ascites.
A 61-year-old female presented with a right transudative pleural effusion in the absence of ascites and other stigmata of chronic liver disease. A diagnosis of cirrhosis with a secondary hydrothorax was eventually established; however, ascites could never be demonstrated clinically or radiographically until just before her death, when hypertonic saline was administered for symptomatic hyponatremia. Based on the autopsy finding of a 1-mm hole in the right diaphragm and her clinical course, a mechanism for the production of a cirrhotic pleural effusion in the absence of asictes is proposed.
D001201:Ascites; D003964:Diaphragm / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000150:complications*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000209:etiology*