Mesothelioma symptoms the sudden killer

 What are the Symptoms of Pleural Mesothelioma?

Most pleural mesothelioma symptoms affect the respiratory system. Although they are rarely part of a patient's initial presentation and are typically discovered by imaging tests, pleural thickening or pleural plaques are also indicative of mesothelioma.

The most commonly reported symptoms of pleural mesothelioma include:

• Chest pains
• Shortness of breath (dyspnea)
• Reduced chest expansion

• Barely audible or harsh breathing sounds
• Dry cough or wheezing
• Pleural effusions

These benign lesions can be as large as 6 cm in diameter and appear in scattered clusters across the visceral and parietal pleural surface. In a 2011 study of 221 pleural mesothelioma patients, symptoms were reported with the following frequency:

90%

of patients presented pleural effusions

79%

of patients experienced shortness of breath

64%

of patients reported chest pain

36%

of patients developed a chronic cough

30%

of patients experienced weight loss