INTRODUCTION Pleural involvement is an uncommon manifestation of sarcoidosis. It may manifest as pleural effusion, pneumothorax, pleural thickening and nodules, hydropneumothorax, trapped lung, hemothorax, or chylothorax. The incidence of pleural effusion with sarcoidosis ranges from 0% to 5% but has been reported to be as high as 7.5%. Pleural effusions complicate sarcoidosis in < 3% of patien...

BACKGROUND Closed pleural biopsy (CPB) in patients with malignant pleural effusion is less sensitive than cytology. Ultrasound-assisted CPB allows biopsies to be performed in the lower thoracic parietal pleura, where secondary spread from pleural metastases is initially more likely to be found. We analyzed whether choosing the point of entry for CPB with thoracic ultrasound assistance influence...

Background: Patient immune status might be indicative of the variance in bacterial genetics in drug-resistant tuberculous pleuritis and could be used for predicting the risk of multi-drug resistant tuberculous pleuritis (MDR-TB). Objective: To determine the significance of Th2/Th1 ratio and concentration of PD-L1 in the pleural effusions for prediction of MDR-T...

BACKGROUND Tuberculous pleural effusion occurs in 30% of patients with tuberculosis (TB). Rapid diagnosis of a tuberculous pleural effusion would greatly facilitate the management of many patients. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been used to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis in pleural fluid with highly variable sensitivity. OBJECTIVE To improve our laboratory diagnosis of tuberculous pl...

Study objectives: To review the pleural fluid characteristics, pleural manometry, and radiographic data of patients who received a diagnosis of trapped lung in our pleural diseases service. Design: Retrospective case series. Methods: The procedure records of 247 consecutive patients who underwent pleural manometry at the Medical University of South Carolina between October 2002 and November 200...

BACKGROUND Three forms of asbestos-related benign pleural disease are recognized: discrete pleural plaques, pleural effusions and diffuse pleural fibrosis. Of these, diffuse pleural fibrosis is the most significant on account of its chronicity and associated morbidity. AIMS The objectives of this study were to determine the latency of asbestos-induced diffuse pleural fibrosis, its presenting ...

STUDY OBJECTIVE To evaluate the diagnostic value of four different tumor markers: cancer antigen 125 (CA-125), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cytokeratin 19 fragment (CYFRA 21-1) and neuron specific enolase (NSE) in patients with malignant and non-malignant pleural effusion. MATERIAL AND METHODS One hundred and two patients with pleural effusion treated in the University Hospital in Warsaw b...

BACKGROUND Definite diagnosis of transudative or exudative pleural fluids often presents a diagnostic dilemma. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether amino-terminal brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels in pleural fluid has a diagnostic value for discriminating heart-failure-related pleural effusions from non-heart-failure effusions. METHODS Sixty-six subjects (40 male, mean age...