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A 74-year-old man presented to the ED with progressive dyspnea, orthopnea, and bilateral leg swelling for 2 months. He denied cough, hemoptysis, fever, night sweats, or weight loss. He had history of COPD and chronic atrial fibrillation. He had a 50 pack-year smoking history and had quit 7 years prior to presentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 61-year-old man presented to the pulmonary clinic with symptoms of dyspnea and productive cough for the last 6 months. Within the last 2 months, he started noticing bulging of his eyes associated with blurry vision. He denied hemoptysis, fever, night sweats, weight loss, skin rash, and dry eyes or mouth. He is a former smoker, and he denied any recent travel history. The patient has a history of microscopic polyangiitis, which was treated with cyclophosphamide and mycophenolate maintenance therapy and has been in remission for the last 7 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-expandable lung (NEL) commonly occurs secondary to chronic pleural processes, including pleural effusions, endobronchial obstruction, atelectasis, or chronic pleural inflammatory processes. Patients with NEL frequently undergo unnecessary procedures (e.g., thoracentesis), resulting in pneumothorax and discomfort (usually chest pain). Identifying a chronic process and likely development of NEL may prevent this. Diagnostic modalities currently used in practice include pleural manometry and ultrasonography. This case report demonstrates that blunting of transmitted cardiac impulse on M-Mode of ultrasonography predicts the presence of NEL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]