What are the symptoms of pleurisy?
Pleurisy often presents with symptoms of chest pain, which tends to worsen with deep breathing. Patients with pleurisy may also experience a feeling of tightness in the chest, possibly caused by a significant accumulation of fluid in the chest cavity due to the pleurisy. Sometimes, this tightness could also be due to severe chest pain that makes the patient reluctant to inhale deeply. Patients with pleurisy are likely to exhibit symptoms of fever. It is important to note that pleurisy caused by different factors may have distinct clinical features. For example, purulent pleurisy often presents with high fever, while tuberculous pleurisy may show symptoms of tuberculosis intoxication like low-grade fever in the afternoon and night sweats. However, some cases of tuberculous pleurisy might present with high fever, and others may not have noticeable fever at all. Additionally, viral pleurisy usually features prominently painful symptoms in the chest.