Pleural Adhesions, Their Incidence and Significance as Shown in Autopsies at the Los Angeles General Hospital, 1911-1951

Adhesions between the visceral and the parietal pleurae have been observed in the majority of adult autopsies. They are more frequent in older males, and white persons, and their incidence has been decreasing, especially in the younger age groups, in recent years. They are present in more than 90 per cent of all persons dying of tuberculosis, and in nearly as high a proportion of persons with gross tuberculous lesions who die of other causes. Although adhesions may occur as a result of non-tuberculous causes, their incidence so closely parallels the incidence of tuberculous infection that they may be utilized as an indication of the efficacy of tuberculosis control measures.