Postpartum pleural effusion.

A prospective ultrasound study investigated the reportedly high frequency of asymptomatic pleural effusions in the early postpartum period. The pleural space of 50 women within 1-45 h of delivery was scanned with a real-time sector scanner. Only one woman had a pleural effusion. This patient had severe pre-eclampsia with clinically apparent pulmonary oedema. Our findings do not substantiate the previously reported high frequency of pleural fluid in healthy women immediately after delivery.