CT Pleural Pathologies - Video Lesson

Hey everybody, welcome back. This lesson is about the most common pleural pathologies that we can see in CT imaging. These pathologies are grouped together in this lesson because they all affect the pleural space. The pleural space is this very thin potential space within the pleural membrane that surrounds the lungs. Normally there's basically nothing within this space besides a tiny amount of serous fluid that lubricates the surface of the lungs. If we can see something within this space, something has probably gone wrong. The first pathology we'll discuss is pleural effusion. Pleural effusion is an abnormal fluid accumulation in the pleural space, most often caused by heart failure, infection, or malignancy. It's very common for other pathological processes in the thoracic cavity to trigger excessive fluid accumulation in this pleural space. Then we call that accumulation a pleural effusion. It typically presents as a homogenous fluid collection within the pleural space in one