hemothorax is when fluid hematocrit is over half of serum hematocrit

• related: pleural effusion
• tags: #literature #pulmonology

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This patient’s history, chest radiographs, and pleural fluid are most consistent with that of a chronic traumatic left hemothorax. The pleural fluid hematocrit in acute hemothorax (<3 days) is typically >50% of that of the peripheral blood, but in chronic hemothorax, the hematocrit may be lower due to lysis of RBCs and sequestration of fluid into the pleural space. Furthermore, the pleural fluid in a chronic hemothorax can share some characteristics with pleural space infection with low pH and elevated WBC count as were seen in the present case.¹²

Links to this note

• pleural effusion
  • hemothorax is when fluid hematocrit is over half of serum hematocrit

Footnotes

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2. DiVietro ML, Huggins JT, Angotti LB, et al. Pleural fluid analysis in chronic hemothorax: a mimicker of infection. Clin Med Insights Case Rep. 2015;8:71-76. PubMed ↩