Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related pleural diseases are now well recognized. Since the beginning of the pandemic, increasing cases of pleural diseases including pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum, and pleural effusion with severe COVID-19 infection have attracted the attention of physicians and are not incidental or due to barotrauma. The complicated course of COVID-19 illness highlights the complex pathophysiological underpinnings of pleural complications. The management of patients with pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum is challenging as the majority require assisted ventilation; physicians therefore appear to have a low threshold to intervene. Conversely, pleural effusion cases, although sharing some similar patient characteristics with pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum, are in general managed more conservatively. The evidence suggests that patients with COVID-19-related pleural diseases, either due to air leak or effusion, have more severe disease with a worse prognosis. This implies that prompt recognition of these complications and targeted management are key to improve outcomes.

与 2019 年冠状病毒病 (COVID-19) 相关的胸膜疾病现已得到充分认识。自大流行开始以来，严重感染COVID-19的胸膜疾病（包括气胸、纵隔气肿和胸腔积液）病例的增加引起了医生的关注，这些病例并非偶然或由于气压伤所致。COVID-19 疾病的复杂病程凸显了胸膜并发症的复杂病理生理学基础。气胸和纵隔气肿患者的治疗具有挑战性，因为大多数患者需要辅助通气；因此，医生干预的门槛似乎较低。相反，胸腔积液病例虽然与气胸和纵隔气肿具有一些相似的患者特征，但通常处理更为保守。有证据表明，因漏气或积液而患有 COVID-19 相关胸膜疾病的患者病情更严重，预后更差。这意味着及时识别这些并发症和有针对性的管理是改善结果的关键。