The Symptoms of Pleural Diseases
Pleural diseases may not manifest any symptoms until the disease has reached an advanced stage. That is why early examination and diagnosis of suspected pleural disorders are so important. When the symptoms do show, they are varied but the most common are:
- Chest pain that usually becomes worse when breathing deeply or coughing
- Chronic cough
- Shortness of breath
- Rapid breathing
- Continuous or recurring fever and chills
- Chronic hiccupping and shoulder pain
If left untreated, pleural diseases can lead to several major medical problems including the collapse of the lung, loss of lung function, the spread of infection into the blood (sepsis), spread of cancer and death. Acute rapid air or blood accumulation can affect heart function due to mechanical effects of accumulation within the closed chest cavity.