Pleural Effusion problem with lung cavity

[Dusty3]

Last week I had a Ultrasound-Guide Left Thoracentese. 1.8 liters was drained and alittle of one liter remained. Now eight days later the left lung cavity is more than one half filled with fluid.

Please advise what are the possible causes of this effusion, and what possible remidies are used to correct these problems .
I am now 73 yrs old. Tomorrow most probable doctors will again drain the lung cavity. So far they have now clues what is causing this.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

[National Jewish]

Pleural effusion is a collection of fluid in the area between the lungs and the chest, where normally there is no space or fluid.  Fluid can build up due to abnormal conditions such as cancer, clots to the lungs, fluid in the abdominal cavity, heart failure, infection, kidney disease, trauma, tumors, and sometimes for no obvious reason at all.
The fluid compresses the lung making it hard to breathe and causing shortness of breath.  The fluid can be watery, clear, cloudy, bloody or purulent, containing pus.  The physical, biochemical and microbiological characteristics of the fluid will most often provide clues as to the cause of the fluid.  Other tests that can be helpful in finding the cause of the fluid are cultures, including cultures for tuberculosis (TB), checking for a variety of biochemical markers, and looking at the cells in the fluid.
The remedy will depend on the cause of the fluid.  It

[Pwa]

Just recently I had a spontaneous hemopneumothorax. Chest tube was place, removed a few days later and release from the hospital. Two weeks later I was readmit due to a massive pleural effusion. The doctors have no answer for the cause of the effusion. Now I'm back home with a drainage bag. Has anyone been through this, or have any possible answers to my condition?

[Stewart11]

A related discussion, Fluid Around the Lung was started.

[sunshine1045]

A related discussion, color of fluid drained out of lung was started.

[RTFLY]

I am curious...what type of fluid are they draining off? I mean, what color is it? There are things that cause repeated pleural effusions and you need to seek a pulmonologist (if you haven't already) to have some help in defining what may be the cause of these repeated effusions. Hope to hear back from you soon...
                                  
                                             J.C.I., RCP RRT