Radiografía estándar de tórax como método diagnóstico en pacientes con derrame pleural

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: In Ecuador, respiratory diseases represent 60% of hospital admissions and in recent years, due to the Covid 19 pandemic, this figure has increased to 75%. Among the pathologies that are related to a pleural effusion in up to 40% is infection by sars-cov 2 and pneumonia, which are very frequent entities in our environment. OBJECTIVE: To describe the main radiological findings in standard chest radiography of a pleural effusion, through the search of updated scientific articles, for a correct interpretation by health personnel. METHODS AND MATERIALS: It is a retrospective and descriptive study, taking updated articles from databases such as: PubMed, Scielo, Google Scholar, from the last 5 years that contain relevant information on the subject. RESULTS: Based on 38 bibliographic reviews where the main radiological findings in a pleural effusion are described, a descriptive comparison is made that allows us to associate radiological semiology from other parts of the world with respect to our environment. CONCLUSION: Compared to other countries such as Spain and Mexico, Ecuador presents radiological criteria in common, which are managed by any medical personnel, taking into account the quality of the radiograph and the findings such as: blurring of the cost-phrenic angle, formation of Damoisseu's line, meniscus sign, spine sign, silhouette sign, thickening of the major and minor fissures, in this work the most common radiographic findings that can be found in a pleural effusion are clearly described.