Pleural fluid interferon-γ and tumour necrosis factor-α in tuberculous and rheumatoid pleurisy. T. Söderblom, P. Nyberg, A.-M. Teppo, M. Klockars, H. Riska, T. Pettersson. ©ERS Journals Ltd 1996. ABSTRACT: Tuberculous and rheumatoid pleural effusions show features suggesting a strong local cellular immune response. Pleural fluid (Pf) from patients with tuberculosis, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) an...

Virtually, every pulmonary disease and most non-pulmonary diseases may be associated with a pleural effusion. The presence of a pleural effusion allows the clinician to 'diagnose' or narrow the differential diagnosis and aetiology of the fluid collection. However, pleural fluid analysis (PFA) in isolation rarely provides a definitive diagnosis. This review discusses the rationale for evaluating...

Pleural effusions, seen in isolation or in association with a number of pulmonary and systemic diseases, are common problems in both the in-patient and out-patient setting. The incidence of pleural effusion in the general population is hard to estimate. Reports suggest an incidence of 0.3% in the general population, with as many as 800,000 cases annually. Pleural effusions frequently complicate...

objective(s) this study planned to assess the value of pcr is6110 assay in tissue specimens of needle pleural biopsy in patients suspicious to pleural tuberculosis. materials and methods sixty eight patients with lymphocytic exudative pleural effusion underwent pleural biopsy. tissue samples were sent for pathologic examination and pcr is6110 assay. the results of pcr reported as positive/ nega...

In most diseases related to pleural effusion, the fluid analysis yields important diagnostic information, and in certain cases, fluid analysis alone is enough for diagnosis. The many important characteristics of pleural fluid are described, as are other complementary investigations that can assist with the diagnosis of common and rare pleural effusions. For a systematic review of pleural effusi...

STUDY OBJECTIVES To study the ability of positron emission tomography (PET) using 18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) to distinguish between benign and malignant disease in exudative pleural effusions and pleural thickening. DESIGN Prospective study of 98 consecutive patients presenting with either pleural thickening or an exudative pleural effusion. SETTING Department of pulmonary medicine of a un...

Needle biopsy of the parietal pleura was undertaken in 64 patients with undiagnosed pleural effusion. An adequate specimen was obtained in 96% of procedures. This was diagnostic in 45% of those due to malignancy and in 50% of those due to tuberculosis. A second biopsy improved the combined diagnostic yield in these two diseases from 32% to 46%. Pleural fluid cytology was unhelpful in establishi...

Background: Pleural effusion is a common clinical problem resulting from thoracic or systemic diseases. Several biochemical parameters, serological and cytological markers are used to classify the type of pleural effusion. The oldest classification is Light’s criteria which categorizes exudates by meeting one of these criteria: Pleural to serum protein ratio> 0.5, pleural to serum LDH ratio> 0....

BACKGROUND A high concentration of hyaluronic acid in pleural fluid is suggestive of malignant mesothelioma. However, a relatively high concentration of hyaluronic acid was also seen in the pleural fluid of patients with benign inflammatory diseases. To show the utility of measuring hyaluronic acid levels in pleural fluid to diagnose tuberculous pleurisy, we compared the clinical features and l...