Establishing a diagnosis of pleural effusion due to heart failure

Heart failure (HF) is one of the leading causes of pleural effusion, along with cancer, pneumonia and tuberculosis. Despite being the most common hospital admission diagnosis in patients aged 65 years, some studies have reported a relatively low incidence of pleural effusions secondary to HF. One reason for this is that the studies surveyed selected populations that did not include many patients with pleural effusions of this origin (e.g. only patients from respiratory medicine departments or those who underwent thoracentesis). Distinguishing patients with HFassociated pleural effusion from among those with other potential causes allows for the early implementation of appropriate therapy and avoids unnecessary exploration.res_1532 471..473