How to differentiate pleural effusion from pleural edema?
Answer:
There's no such thing as pleural edema. I suppose you tight either pleural thicken or pulmonary edema. If you take an X beam in lateral position, the fluid of a pleural effusion will move beside gravity to the most dependent area. There will be no renovate in pleural thicken or pulmonary edema.
Do you mean pleural effusion from PULMONARY edema?
The usual distinction is to clinically try and distinguish between pleural effusion and CONSOLIDATION.
Pleural edema is essentially newly swelling of the pleura - probably caused by fluid from some form of inflammation. The pleura does not own much space to contain this and a pleural effusion could follow.
PLEURAL EDEMA
If there be inflammation but no pleural effusion:
(1) there might be no signs and the breath sounds would be vesicular, percussion minute normally resonant
(2) nearby may be some signs of inflammation including an audible pleural rub
(3) there may be signs of an underlying or further pathology: perhaps underlying consolidation - see latter
There may be decreased lung excursion due to anguish.
PLEURAL EFFUSION
If there be fluid in the pleural space the clinical signs are:
(1) stony dull percussion entry
(2) decreased breath sounds
(3) decrease vocal resonance or sung fremitus
OCCASIONALLY with colossal pleural effusions there can be tracheal deviation away from the side of the mass effect. There may be an audible pleural rub and/or decrease lung excursion.
CONSOLIDATION
If there is consolidation contained by the underlying lung parenchyma the clinical signs are:
(1) dull percussion note over the consolidated nouns - interestingly, different in characteristic to the stony dullness that characterizes a pleural effusion
(2) bronchial breath sounds or crackling noises beside the breath sounds (rales)
(3) increased or altered vocal resonance/fremitus
In consolidation next to significant lung lobe COLLAPSE there can be deviation of the trachea TOWARDS the collapsed side.
PULMONARY EDEMA is a condition where on earth there is fluid within the interstitial spaces of the lung parenchyma. This is a characteristic of departed ventricular failure. The signs are:
(1) Crackling noise with breathing (rales), predominantly surrounded by the lower (dependant) parts of the lung
(2) Decreased percussion note contained by the lower parts of the lung (depending on how much fluid has accumulated)
(3) Signs of Pleural effusion (see above) if sufficient fluid have accumulated
effusion scheme free fluid in the pleural cavity. I enjoy never heard of pleural edema. The pleura is not made to hold fluid.