Prevalence and characteristics of minimal pleural fluid on screening chest MRI

• Published in: Respiratory investigation 2024-11, Vol.62 (6), p.1109-1116
• Main Authors: Fukuda, Kensuke, Matsuzaki, Hirotaka, Kawahara, Takuya, Yamaguchi, Toshihiro, Saito, Akira, Yamamichi, Nobutake, Kage, Hidenori, Yoshikawa, Takeharu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age Factors; Aged; Chest magnetic resonance imaging; Echocardiography; Female; Humans; Incidental Findings; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Male; Medical check-up; Middle Aged; Observational study; Pleural Effusion - diagnostic imaging; Pleural Effusion - epidemiology; Pleural fluid; Prevalence; Respiratory physiology; Retrospective Studies; Sex Factors; Smoking - epidemiology; Tomography, X-Ray Computed
• ISSN: 2212-5345; 2212-5353; 2212-5353
• DOI: 10.1016/j.resinv.2024.09.014

Minimal pleural fluid is often seen incidentally on chest MRI. However, its prevalence and clinical characteristics remain unknown. This retrospective observational study included 2726 participants who underwent comprehensive medical check-ups for screening, including chest CT and MRI, and transthoracic echocardiography between March 2018 and February 2019. Pleural fluid on MRI was manually measured for maximum thickness. Its distribution, change over time, and relevance to participant characteristics were analyzed. The pulmonary function data of 82 participants and their associations with fluid were also analyzed. Of the 2726 participants (mean age ± standard deviation, 59 ± 11 years), 2009 (73.7%) had minimal pleural fluid (thickness, 1–9 mm) on either side, with right-sided fluid being more frequent than left-sided fluid (P