Pleural Friction Rub

Heard when there is pleural inflammation, as in pneumonia or pulmonary infarction. It sounds like someone rubbing their hand on a wet balloon, or sometimes it sounds like a boot crunching on fresh snow.

Patient 1:

Pleural Friction Rub

Annotated

Patient 2:

Patient 3:

This is an older man with metastatic renal cell carcinoma with pulmonary involvement, who was found to have a pleural rub over the anterior chest.

Pleural Friction Rub

Annotated

Patient 4:

This is a patient with right middle lobe pneumonia and pleural friction rub.

Patient 5:

This is a 50-year-old man admitted with pneumonia. He was found to have a pleural friction rub over the left lower lobe, the site of consolidation on chest imaging. Streptococcal urine antigen returned positive.