[Recognition and differential diagnosis of pericardial and left-sided pleural effusions based on data from uni- and 2-dimensional echocardiography].

Sixty patients with pericardial and left-side effusions were singled out of 317 patients with pericarditis. A possibility to differentiate the position of liquid in adjacent cavities by means of one- and two-dimension echocardiography was shown. Peculiarities in the position of liquid with relation to the heart and one another lay in the basis of differential diagnosis. The use of simple technical methods in one-dimension echocardiography and the use of the two-dimension study make it possible to diagnose reliably pleural and pericardial effusions and their combination.