Pleural effusion
Senior Lecturer and Consultant Physician,
University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff
Q: I am suffering from pleural effusion, which caused pain in ribs while breathing. Pleural fluid was removed and tested for malignant cells and found negative. Test for TB (Mantoux) was done, still found negative. I was given the course of AKT-4 tablets, after removing fluid. Still I am feeling pain. Please advise me what to do.
A:It seems that the precise cause of your pleural effusion (water in the pleural cavity) has not been determined. I am not sure if they took a little strip of your pleura (biopsy) when they took the fluid, as that might have produced the answer even if the fluid did not. TB cannot be excluded simply if the TB germ was not found in the fluid, which may have been sent for special culture and the answer takes between 2 and 3 months. In short the process that caused the accumulation of fluid may still be active giving you the pain. I would suggest that you should go back to the doctors who investigated you for an up-to-date check up.