Etiological Analysis And Diagnostic Clues Summary Of 2419 Cases With Childhood Pleural Effusion

Objective:To investigate the etiology and diagnostic clues of children with pleural effusion.Methods:2419 hospitalized cases with pleural effusion from Jan. 1994 to Jan.2014 were included in the study, which were divided into infection group and uninfection group. Then the clinical features were recorded.Results:There were 1523 males (63.0%) and 896 females, with an average age of (6.5±4.0) years old. There were 2353 cases in the infection group and 66 cases in the uninfection group. The frequence of fever in infection group was much higher than that in uninfection group, whereas the frequence of dyspnea and moderate to large amount pleural effusion was lower (all P<0.01). Among infection group, the major paragonimus szechuanensis pleurisy were 3-7 years old, whereas most tuberculous pleurisy were>7 years old and the purulent pleurisy were≤3 years old. However, there was no age character founded in uninfection group. The prognosis of infection group was much better than uninfection group (P<0.01).Conclusions:Infection is the predominant cause of childhood pleural effusion. And we should make a differential diagnosis with uninfectious pleural effusion by considering the clues of incidence, clinical manifestations and effusion quantity.