Glossary

Author: Glossary

  • Pleurography

    Radiographical examination of the lungs and pleura.  

  • Pleuroclysis

    Injection and removal of fluid into the pleural cavity to wash it out.  

  • Tuberculous pleurisy

    Inflammation of the pleura as a result of tuberculosis. The effusion may be bloody.  

  • Dry pleurisy

    A condition in which the pleural membrane is covered with a fibrinous exudate.  

  • Adhesive pleurisy

    Pleurisy in which the exudate causes the parietal pleura to adhere to the visceral. If this is extensive, the pleural space is obliterated. Pleurisy where the two layers of the pleural membrane – one covering the lungs and the other lining the chest cavity – are adhered together.  

  • Pleural reaction

    Thickening of the pleura, or of the pleural shadow, on an x-ray, which is an indication of pleural disease, pleural effusion, or infiltration by cancer.  

  • Pleural fibrosis

    A condition occurring in pulmonary tuberculosis, asbestosis, and other lung diseases in which the pleura becomes thickened and the pleural space may be obliterated.  

  • Pleuracotomy

    Incision into the pleura through the chest wall.  

  • Mediastinal pleura

    The portion of the parietal pleura that extends to cover the mediastinum.  

  • Air displacement plethysmography

    A technique for measuring body composition (body volume and percentage of body fat) that relies on the relative volume and pressure of gas displaced by the body when it is placed inside a plethysmograph. An approach to measure body composition, regarded as a substitute for hydrostatic weighing, employs air instead of water to compute body…