Elderly people who develop fluid in the lungs have a survival time ranging from six months to more than ten years, depending on the cause. The common causes of pulmonary effusion, also known as pleural effusion, include tuberculous pleurisy, malignant pleural effusion and leakage pleural effusion. 1. Tuberculous pleurisy: if the elderly have pleural effusion due to tuberculous pleurisy, they can be treated with anti-tuberculous drugs such as isoniazid and rifampicin after diagnosis, and the course of treatment should be at least half a year. After regular anti-tuberculosis treatment, patients can achieve curative effect. 2. Malignant pleural effusion: malignant pleural effusion is caused by metastasis of malignant tumor. If the patient’s effusion is diagnosed as malignant, it suggests that the patient enters the advanced stage of cancer and the survival time of the patient is a few months or half a year. 3. Leaky pleural effusion: Leaky pleural effusion refers to the type of pleural effusion caused by renal insufficiency and cirrhosis of the liver, etc. After treating the patient’s primary disease, often the effusion can be absorbed by itself, and the patient’s survival time is longer. Elderly people with pulmonary effusion, due to different causes and physical conditions, survival time is not the same, the above time is for reference only, it is recommended that you can go to the hospital for a systematic examination and evaluation of the condition of the elderly.