Pleural Disorders - Risk Factors - Risk Factors

Pleural disorders can happen at any age, but pneumothorax is most common in people 15 to 34 years old and people over age 55.

Having a family history of spontaneous pneumothorax increases your risk.

Smoking tobacco or marijuana increases your risk of spontaneous pneumothorax.

Taking certain medicines can increase your risk of some pleural disorders.

• Anticoagulants, or blood thinners, such as heparin or warfarin, may increase the risk of hemothorax.
• Cancer medicines, such as dasatinib and interleukin-2, may increase the risk of pleural effusion.
• Medicines that can cause drug-induced lupus may increase the risk for pleural effusion. These medicines include hydralazine, used to treat high blood pressure, and procainamide, used to treat arrhythmia.
• Nitrofurantoin, an antibiotic used to treat urinary tract infections, may increase the risk of pleural effusion.

Pleural disorders are often complications of other diseases, either in the lungs or elsewhere in the body.

• Cancer, such as lung cancer and lymphoma, or benign tumors, can cause pleural effusion.
• Chest and heart surgery, especially coronary artery bypass grafting, can cause pleural effusion.
• Heart failure can cause pleural effusion due to increased pressure in the blood vessels.
• Infections, including viral infections such as influenza, bacterial infections such as pneumonia, and infections from fungi or parasites, can cause pleural effusion.
• Inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, including lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and familial Mediterranean fever, can cause pleurisy.
• inherited disorders, such as Marfan syndrome and alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency, can cause pneumothorax.
• Kidney disease or liver disease may be associated with pleural effusion.
• Lung diseases such as asbestos-related lung diseases, COPD, tuberculosis, and LAM, may cause pleural effusion or pneumothorax.
• Pancreatitis may cause pleurisy.
• Pulmonary embolism, a type of venous thromboembolism, may cause pleurisy.
• Sarcoidosis may cause pleural effusion.
• Sickle cell disease may cause pleurisy.

Men, especially those who are taller than average, are more likely than women to have a spontaneous pneumothorax, often without underlying lung disease.