Pleural effusion can occur as complication of many diseases. They are classified broadly in to exudative and transudative effusion based on Light's criteria. Common causes of transudative effusions are congestive cardiac failure, cirrhosis, nephrotic syndrome, superior venacava obstruction, peritoneal dialysis, glomerulonephritis, myxoedema, pulmonary emboli and sarcoidosis whereas exudative PE...

Primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) is an unusual and rare type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma characterized by lymphomatous effusion of pleural, pericardial or peritoneal cavities without lymphadenopathy or organomegaly. It is associated with human herpes virus-8 (HHV-8) and occurs most often in immunodeficient patients. We present a case of PEL in a 69-year-old male presenting with pleural effusion an...

Background. Mesothelioma is a rare cancer with a historically dire prognosis. We sought to calculate life expectancies for patients with pleural or peritoneal mesothelioma, both at time of diagnosis and several years later, and to examine whether survival has improved in recent years. Methods. Data on 10,258 pleural and 1,229 peritoneal patients from the SEER US national cancer database, 1973-2...

Infections by Cryptococcus neoformans usually involves the central nervous system and the respiratory tract. We report a case of disseminated cryptococcosis with cryptococcal empyema and liver abscess. The initial diagnosis was only ascites with hepatitis and or cholangitis of unknown cause. Routine chest X-ray film showed pleural effusion, and his retropositive status was detected for the firs...

Dear Dr. Bedrossian: I would like to offer an explanation as to how the nodules of so-called nodular histiocytic hyperplasia (NHH) form in some specimens of pleural, peritoneal, and pericardial fluid. Such nodules were well-illustrated by Drs. Choi and Song in their recently published article in Diagnostic Cytopathology.1 They demonstrated that these nodules are composed of compact aggregates o...

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...

The degree of penetration of newer quinolones into the pleural fluid has not been studied. The objective of the present study was to determine the degree to which moxifloxacin and levofloxacin penetrate into empyemic pleural fluid using a new rabbit model of empyema. An empyema was created via the intrapleural injection of turpentine (1 mL), followed 24 h later by instillation of 2 mL (1 x 10(1...

BACKGROUND The diagnosis of pleural tuberculosis (TB) remains to be difficult. Interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) is a promising method for diagnosing TB in low TB burden countries. The release of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) by T lymphocytes increases at a localized site of infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigen. This study aimed to examine the clinical accuracy of T-SPOT.TB on pleur...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE CA-125, an ovarian tumor marker is known to increase in non malignant conditions such as tubercular and non tubercular pleuritis and ascites. We undertook this study to evaluate non-specific rise in CA-125 levels in conditions associated with pleural effusion and ascites and also to understand the mechanism of its secretion. METHODS CA-125 levels in 38 pleural and 46 as...

The effect of adrenalectomy on neutrophil and monocyte migration into rat peritoneal and pleural cavities was investigated. Carrageenin- or thioglycollate-induced neutrophil emigration into both cavities was enhanced by adrenalectomy. In contrast, monocyte migration into peritoneal cavities induced by these two stimuli was significantl decreased. In pleural cavities, adrenalectomy enhanced the ...