Urinalysis and Body Fluids 6th Edition by Majorie DiLorenzo, Susan Strasinger

Exercise 1

Fluid from a patient with congestive heart failure is collected by thoracentesis and sent to the laboratory for testing. It appears clear and pale yellow and has a WBC count of 450/mL, fluid:serum protein ratio of 0.35, and fluid:serum LD ratio of 0.46.

a. What type of fluid was collected?

b. Based on the laboratory results, would this fluid be considered a transudate or an exudate? Why?

c. List two other tests that could be performed to aid in classifying this fluid.

Step 1 of 3

a.

Type of collected fluid:

Type of fluid gathered from a patient with congestive heart failure is “Pleural fluid”.

Pleural fluid:

The pleural fluid is found in pleural cavity.

• The pleural cavity is located between parietal pleural membrane and visceral pleural membrane

• Parietal plural membrane covers the chest wall and visceral pleural membrane covers the lungs