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Background: Pleural effusion may be a result of a primary pulmonary illness. It also can be the pleural manifestation of numerous of diseases that primarily affect other organs. Quantification of pleural effusion is of great value in clinical practice, as it usually guides the plan of management. Chest ultrasound (U/S) is one of the helpful non-invasive means in estimating pleural fluid volume. Objective: To correlate the U/S estimated volumes of pleural fluid calculated by studied formulae, with the actual effusion volume, and to identify the most accurate formula in quantifying the pleural fluid volume. Patients and Methods: This prospective cross-sectional study was carried out in the department of Chest, Bab Al-sha'reia University Hospital, during the period from October 2019 to September 2020, and included forty patients with clinical and radiological diagnosis of pleural effusion. Ultrasound estimation of the amount of pleural effusion was done using 4 different formulae, followed by full pleural drainage through either simple aspiration or tube thoracostomy. Lastly, the ultrasonographically estimated fluid volumes were then compared to the actually drained fluid volume. Results: The supine formulae showed excellent correlation with the drained pleural fluid volume, with Pearson correlation coefficient(r) = 0.9607 and 0.9602 for Eibenberger and Balik formulae respectively (p-value

Background: Metabolic syndrome is a multiorgan disease and it could aggravate other diseases. Its effect on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease needs to be addressed. Aim of the work: to examine if metabolic syndrome increases the frequency, duration and severity of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Patients and methods: 60 patients who admitted with COPD exacerbation were included and were divided into two groups: Group 1 (COPD without metabolic syndrome). Group 2 (COPD with metabolic syndrome). All submitted to full history taking, clinical examination, laboratory and radiological examination. Results: COPD severity was GOLD class II in 25.0%, class III in 51.7% and class IV in 23.3%; and disease severity was significantly higher in patients with metabolic syndrome. The frequency of COPD exacerbations showed significant increase in group 2 when compared to group 1 (2.17±0.65 vs 1.43±0.57 respectively). In addition, the duration of hospital stay increased significantly in group 2 when compared to group 1 (4.33±0.80 vs 3.37±0.61). Conclusion: metabolic syndrome could play a role in pathogenesis- or may be a consequence of- COPD. Thus, metabolic syndrome had a harmful effect on the outcome of COPD exacerbations.