The severity of bilateral pleural effusion is related to the amount of effusion and the cause of effusion formation, etc. A large amount of bilateral pleural effusion and malignant pleural fluid are relatively more serious.
1. When a small amount of bilateral pleural effusion (generally less than 500 ml) is present, it usually does not exert obvious pressure on the lungs, and the chest radiograph shows that the angle of the rib diaphragm becomes obtuse, and the clinical symptoms are not obvious.
When the amount of bilateral pleural effusion >500ml or even more than 1000ml, it will compress the lungs and lead to limitation of respiratory movement, thus obvious symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest tightness, dyspnea, etc., which is a serious situation.
2. The mechanism of hydrothorax is the increase of hydrostatic pressure in the capillaries of chest wall, the increase of capillary permeability, and the obstruction of lymphatic reflux. Bacterial infection, tuberculosis, malignant tumor and other conditions may appear pleural effusion.
The prognosis of pleural effusion caused by bacterial infection and tuberculosis is relatively good after regular anti-infection and anti-tuberculosis treatment, while pleural effusion caused by malignant tumors usually has metastasis in the mediastinum, chest wall and other parts of the chest wall, which has a poorer prognosis and a more serious situation.