title: The evaluation of pleural effusions in patients with heart failure.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the causes of pleural effusions in patients with heart failure, and the association of the characteristics of these statistics with the use of diuretics.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty-one patients with a definite diagnosis of heart failure who underwent thoracentesis were evaluated. Fluids were classified as transudates or exudates using Light's criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-one effusions (in 34 patients) were transudates, and 54 (in 47 patients) were exudates. A specific cause was found for 32 of the exudates (27 patients); except for heart failure, no obvious cause was found for the remaining 22 fluids (20 patients). Exudates with a specific cause for an exudate were more likely to have at least two of Light's criteria (18 of 27 [67%]) than did exudates without a known cause (2 of 21 [10%]). Intravenous diuretic therapy in the 24 hours before thoracentesis was significantly more common among patients with exudates without a specific cause.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with heart failure may have exudative pleural effusions without an obvious cause except heart failure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology (IG), Hadassah University Hospital, Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gotsman
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Fridlender
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meirovitz
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dratva
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Muszkat
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D004232:Diuretics / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005122:Exudates and Transudates / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D004232:Diuretics