Frequency of pleural effusion in acute bronchiolitis and its effect on prognosis

AIM To analyze the frequency of pleural effusion and the effect on prognosis in children with acute bronchiolitis. METHODS A total of 69 infants aged 1-24 months with acute bronchiolitis were studied between September 2009 and December 2010. All patients'age, sex, breastfeeding duration, exposure to smoking, history of using vitamin D, symptoms duration, physical examination and laboratory findings were recorded. Bronchiolitis score and predisposing factors that influence the disease process were determined. Thorax ultrasonography was carried out in all patients, who were evaluated on the 3rd and 7th day of the treatment. RESULTS Mean age of patients (43 boys, 26 girls) was 11.97 ± 0.69 months (median 11 months). Breastfeeding duration was 8.26 ± 0.56 months (median 8 months). According to bronchiolitis score, 52 patients (75.4%) had mild and moderate bronchiolitis and 17 (24.6%) had severe bronchiolitis; 34 patients (49.2%) had pleural effusion. There was no relation between pleural effusion and symptoms. Frequency of pleural effusion was significantly higher in patients with risk factors. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated that most of the acute bronchiolitis cases in the infants studied were accompanied by pleural effusion. Pleural effusion in acute bronchiolitis had no effects on prognosis.