The Prevalence of Pleural Effusion in Pregnant Women: A Pilot Study

Authors: EBRU DİKENSOY, ÖZCAN BALAT, ÖNER DİKENSOY

Abstract: Pleural effusions are very common in general population. There are more than 50 reasons for the etiology. There is limited data on the prevalence of pleural effusions in a population of pregnant women. We prospectively screened 45 pregnant women between May and October 2006. All the pregnant women underwent thoracic ultrasonography during their routine check. Five out of 45 subjects (11%) had minimal and bilateral pleural effusion. None of the subjects was symptomatic. All of the effusions regressed without any intervention. In conclusion, the prevalence of pleural effusions is not rare during pregnancy and physicians should be aware of the conditions which may cause a symptomatic pleural effusion in a population of pregnant women.

Keywords: Pleural effusion, pregnancy, ultrasonography

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