Transoesophageal echocardiography for the detection and quantification of pleural fluid in cardiac surgical patients

摘要

Background Transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE) can image pleural fluid. Left pleural collections may be easier to detect than right, as the thoracic aorta serves as an acoustic window. Attempts to quantify pleural fluid using TOE are restricted to a case report in which volume was predicted by multiplying maximal cross-sectional area (CSA_max) by axial length (AL). A computed tomography (CT) derived formula for quantifying pleural effusions is maximal effusion depth squared (d2) multiplied by maximal effusion length.