الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Pleura is a serous cavity of mesodermal origin that forms from the embryonal somato- and splanchano- pleurae portions of the “coelamic sac”.
Pleural membranes, histologically, are composed of three tissue layers, a mesothelial layer, an interstitial submesothelial connective tissue layer and an external elastic layer. The visceral and parietal pleurae cover the whole lungs except their hila.
It is anatomically subdivided into pleural domes, visceral, costal, mediastinal, and diaphragmatic pleurae.
Pleural space is a potential space that contains small amount of fluid that is in dynamic motion of resorption and secretion.
Pleural diseases are problematic, difficult to diagnose group of diseases. They contain lots of various pathologies that may affect pleural cavity.
The recent advances in the MDCT play a great role in the diagnosis in detection, follow up and management planning of the pleural diseases. The data volume is processed in multiple varying ways to increase the sensitivity and specificity of diagnoses. In the last decade, various new software processing applications were introduced for the chest CT examination that further enhances and empowers the accuracy of the diagnosis.
Use of MDCT in evaluation of different pleural diseases enormously enriched their diagnoses and follow up evaluations as well as management planning techniques.
The aim of this study was to detect the role of MDCT when dealing with pleural diseases in 40 patients with variable pleural lesions.
MDCT scans after through history taking, clinical examination and initial plain X-ray films were obtained using a CT machine with more than 6 detectors. 100 ml of IV non-ionic contrast was injected into the patient.
The yielding isotropic volumes were processed using reconstruction softwares using Simens in-space and Vitrea 2@ computer software systems
40 patients were investigated and classified according to the lesions into patients with pleural effusions, pneumothorax, diffuse pleural lesions and localized pleural lesions
Ten patients with pleural effusions were subdivided into with transudate, with exudates and one while the hemothorax and pseudochylothorax were represented by one for each.
After aspiration/ cytology, the attenuation values helped in discrimination of pseudochylothoracic and pseudochylous patients, yet it was difficult to differentiate between exudates and transudates.