Low albumin results in fluid around the lungs?? Anyone see this before?

So as a reward for reaching my goal weight, I landed in the hospital this weekend.  For the past couple weeks I've had a severe pain in the center of my chest, right about the breastbone.  It hurt to breath, eat, drink, lay down, sit up, lean over to pick something up, etc.  After a battery of tests, it turns out I have fluid accumulation around my lungs.  They tapped about 300 ml (looked like about a cup and a half) from the left lung and sent it off to analyze, results will be back in about a week.

The only lab value they can hang their hat on, right now, is low albumin, in the 3's according to the pulmonologist.  He said he thinks the fluid is an inflammatory response to the low albumin.  I didn't have my laptop with me so couldn't do a lot of research on here about low albumin, but didn't remember anyone reporting this particular result of low albumin.  He has me on a short course of low-dose steriod, which does seem to be helping, I came home today and the pain is pretty much gone.  I didn't ask about pre-albumin and protein values, but will review them when I see the full lab report.  (In the hospital you have to get an act of congress to get a copy of your lab reports.)

Has anyone seen anything like this before?  I go back to the pulmonologist for a follow-up visit in a week, at which time I'll request a copy of the full lab report so I can compare it to my previous labs, but just wanted a gut-check from this community in the meantime.  Let me know your thoughts.  It's odd because I'm usually so rigorous about getting my protein and water in.  A couple months ago I did switch to a protein supplement that isn't 100% whey isolate, because it tastes better, and that's going right out the window, back to my 100% whey isolate for sure, but not sure what else I can do.

One of albumin's jobs is to maintain fluid (plasma & blood) in the vascular space (blood vessels).  When albumin is low, fluid "leaks" from the vascular space to the interstitial (surrounding tissue) space.

This occurs frequently in people with liver failure, and presents as ascites (accumulation of fluid in the peritoneal cavity).  People with peripheral vascular diseases will present with lower extremity edema.  Pleural effusions (like yours****ur in people with an underlying pulmonary condition.

Did they do a perfusion scan, in addition to the thoracentesis???

Thanks for the great info!  As far as I remember they didn't do a perfusion scan.  What is that procedure like?

Let me see, at first they were looking for a P-E (chest pain after a long flight, since the pain presented the day after I returned from Europe, a total of 14 hrs in the air).  So they did chest x-ray, CT scan with contrast, doppler test on my legs, EKG, chest/lungs ultrasound.  That was all in the ER, and these tests revealed the fluid around the lungs.  So then they admitted me to do the thoracentesis.  Plus they took enough blood to drain me dry, including arterial blood gas.  That's everything I think.

What is that procedure like?

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/lvq/lvq_all.htm l

As we learned in nursing school.

"water goes where stuff is"  Albumin is some of the stuff that  holds the water in the blood.

In protein/carbohydrate malnutrition there is a lot of swelling and fluid retention.

Hope you can get your levels up soon!

Pup

Thank you!  I did have swollen ankles and lower legs when I returned from my trip to Europe, right around the time all this started.  I remember looking in the mirror and thinking, "wow, I used to have ankles - where did they go?"  But that resolved within a couple days of coming home.  I did report this to the doctors while in the hospital.

Another thing, I gained 4 lbs while on my trip, but lost those and seven more in the following 12 days.  So 11 pounds in 12 days, despite accumulating fluid around the lungs.  That and amazing night sweats, more than usual.  Not sure it's relevant, but all reported to the docs.  We'll see.