Is pleurisy serious in young people?

Written by Wang Chun Mei
Pulmonology
Updated on September 09, 2024
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Pleurisy, when it occurs in young people, is also relatively common in clinical settings. It is primarily caused by an invasion of the pleura by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, resulting in an inflammatory lesion. The symptoms manifested by these patients mainly include coughing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, chest pain, and in severe cases, respiratory difficulties. Tuberculous pleurisy is mostly seen in adolescents and children. If young people are diagnosed with pleurisy and receive timely and accurate diagnosis, along with systematic and effective treatment with anti-tuberculosis drugs, their condition can generally be effectively controlled. However, it is important to note that although young people have better resistance, they must strictly adhere to the treatment duration for anti-tuberculosis medication, which usually spans six to nine months to completely cure pleurisy.

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Written by Yuan Qing
Pulmonology
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What should I do about pleurisy calcification?

Pleural calcification, mainly results from long-term unresolved pleuritis or inadequate timely treatment, causing adherence between the two pleural layers. Following this adhesion, calcium salts may deposit, leading to calcification. Usually, the primary consideration is whether the patient's lung function has been impacted. If so, a thoracotomy and pleural decortication might be performed to restore the pleural structure. If the patient only shows pleural calcification on imaging without significant discomfort, it may be observed without immediate intervention, and regular monitoring of the calcification is recommended to see if it enlarges. If the condition remains stable over time, it might not require treatment since this represents a tendency towards healing, or the residual scarring may not necessitate special management.

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Written by An Yong Peng
Pulmonology
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What are the symptoms of pleurisy?

Common symptoms of pleurisy include chest pain, which often worsens with deep breathing. This condition is also called pleuritic chest pain. It is important to note that the presence of such chest pain does not necessarily indicate pleurisy; it could also be due to pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, or even rib fractures. Patients with pleurisy may also experience a sensation of chest tightness, especially when there is a significant amount of pleural effusion. Furthermore, severe chest pain caused by pleurisy may lead to patients avoiding deep breaths, which can also result in symptoms of chest tightness. Fever is another common symptom in patients with pleurisy, and the severity of fever can vary depending on the infection causing the pleurisy. For example, tuberculous pleurisy, caused by tuberculosis infection, often results in a low-grade fever in the afternoon, but high fevers can also occur. In the case of purulent pleurisy, which is usually due to a bacterial infection leading to pus formation in the pleural cavity, high fevers are common.

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Written by Shen Jiang Chao
Radiology
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Can pleurisy be seen on a chest X-ray?

Pleurisy can also be detected in chest radiographs, but it depends on the type. There are two types of pleurisy: dry and wet. Dry pleurisy cannot be clearly identified, while wet pleurisy, which is mostly caused by tuberculosis, can show more typical characteristics. Tuberculous pleurisy primarily manifests as pleural effusion. A small amount of pleural effusion on an X-ray appears as blunting of the costophrenic angle on the same side and blurring of the diaphragm. A moderate amount of pleural effusion is shown on the chest radiograph as a uniformly consistent high-density shadow on the same side, which appears higher on the outside and lower on the inside, with an arc-shaped shadow. The muscle costophrenic angle and diaphragm are obscured. A large amount of pleural effusion presents as a high-density shadow in the pleural cavity on the same side, with the mediastinal cardiac silhouette clearly shifting to the interlateral side.

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Written by Wang Chun Mei
Pulmonology
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Is it normal to have pain in the later stages of pleurisy?

Pleurisy is very common in clinical settings, caused by various pathogens invading the pleural cavity, leading to an inflammatory response. Most pleurisy patients are mainly afflicted due to infections by the tuberculosis bacillus, thus pleurisy typically comes with varying degrees of effusion, leading to different degrees of adhesion in the pleural cavity. Therefore, even during the acute phase of pleurisy, patients may suffer from symptoms such as coughing, fever, chest pain, breathlessness, and difficulty breathing. Even after effective medicinal treatment of pleurisy and full recovery, patients may still experience varying degrees of chest pain later on, primarily due to various degrees of pleural adhesion. During physical exertion or coughing, this can lead to varying degrees of chest pain, a very common occurrence.

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Written by Wang Chun Mei
Pulmonology
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Does pleurisy cause chest pain?

Pleurisy can cause anterior chest pain. It is a very common clinical disease, mostly caused by bacterial invasion of the pleura resulting in inflammatory lesions, with Mycobacterium tuberculosis being the most common pathogen. Due to inflammatory exudation, some patients may also experience varying degrees of pleural effusion. The clinical symptoms presented by patients mainly include fever, cough, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and chest pain. In severe cases, different levels of breathing difficulties and other clinical symptoms may occur. Therefore, it is very common for patients with pleurisy to experience anterior chest pain.