Which condition presents with pleuritic chest pain with inspiration, cough, fever, and chills?

• A. Pulmonary Edema
• B. TB
• C. Pleurisy
• D. COPD

Answer: (C)

Pleuritic chest pain worsens with deep inspiration because the inflamed pleura—the membranes surrounding the lungs—rubs against each other during breathing, producing a sharp, localized pain. Fever and chills point to an infectious or inflammatory process affecting the pleura. This combination of sharp, inspiration-limited pain with cough and fever fits pleurisy, which commonly occurs with infections near the lungs or pleural inflammation.

Pulmonary edema, by contrast, centers on fluid overload causing shortness of breath, chest tightness, and crackles, not predominantly pleuritic pain. COPD involves a chronic pattern of cough, sputum production, and dyspnea rather than an acute pleuritic pain with fever. TB can involve pleuritis, but it typically presents with a longer history of cough, weight loss, and night sweats rather than a classic acute pleuritic pain with fever and chills.