Background: Pleural effusion is a medical condition characterized by the accumulation of excess fluid in the pleural space. The present study was conducted to assess cases of pleural effusion. Materials & Methods: 74 patients with pleural effusion of both genders were included. According to the etiology, the Light's criterion, pleural bilirubin/serum bilirubin > 0.6 mg/dL, and cholesterol in pleural, the pleural effusions were classified as exudative and transudative. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and accuracy of each parameter was performed. Results: Out of 74 patients, males were 44 and females were 30. Pleural effusion was exudative in 48 and transudative in 26 cases. The cause was tuberculosis in 38, para pneumonic in 20 and malignancy in 16 cases, heart failure in 18 and liver cirrhosis in 8 cases. The difference was significant (P< 0.05). Conclusion: Exudate and transudate were the two types of pleural effusion. In the exudate, the reason was discovered to be tuberculosis, para pneumonic, and cancer. In the transudate, the cause was liver cirrhosis and heart failure. Key words: exudate, transudate, Pleural effusion