The latest episode of Ask the Expert, formerly Curbside Consult, focuses on acute management of pleural effusions.

Guest expert Dr Eihab Bedawi (Consultant Respiratory Physician, Clinical Lead for Pleural Medicine, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust) is joined by Dr Hitasha Rupani (University Hospital Southampton, UK) and Prof. Dominick Shaw (University of Leicester, UK).

Eihab, Hitasha and Dominick discuss the case of a 44-year-old male with rheumatoid arthritis who is a current smoker, they have presented at the emergency department with unilateral pleural effusion, weight loss and tachylalia at rest. Saturations are around 90% on air but he is not tachycardic, how should the physician approach this case?