We studied the prevalence of raised serum CA125 in patients with pleural effusions and explored factors affecting its level. Sixty four patients with benign effusions and 36 patients with malignant effusions admitted to the University Malaya Medical Centre from May 2001 to January 2002 were included in the study. There were no significant differences in age, gender and ethnicity of the patients...

T t has been recognized for many years that pleural effusions occur in association with hydrostatic pulmonary edema. In fact, Osier 1 described the association very well, emphasizing that "hydrothorax is a transudation of simple non-inflammatory fluid into the pleural cavities," secondary to cardiac failure, and he emphasized that pleural effusions in this setting were often not recognized clin...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Pleural effusions have a major impact on the cardiorespiratory system. This article reviews the pathophysiological effects of pleural effusions and pleural drainage, their relationship with breathlessness, and highlights key knowledge gaps. RECENT FINDINGS The basis for breathlessness in pleural effusions and relief following thoracentesis is not well understood. Many existi...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to determine, with CT as the reference standard, the ability of radiologists to detect pleural effusions on bedside chest radiographs. MATERIALS AND METHODS Images of 200 hemithoraces in 100 ICU patients undergoing chest radiography and CT within 24 hours were reviewed. Four readers with varying levels of experience reviewed the chest radiographs and pr...

The purpose of this study is to assess the usefulness of soluble vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the effusions of patients with malignant and tuberculous diseases. Using a sandwich enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay, VEGF concentration was measured in malignant (n=17) and tuberculous (n=11) pleural effusions. Pleural biopsy, cytology or microbiological methods were used to make fi...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Several studies on diagnostic accuracy of pleural N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-BNP) for effusions from congestive heart failure (CHF) conclude that pleural NT-pro-BNP is a useful biomarker with high diagnostic accuracy for distinguishing CHF effusions. However, its applicability in critical care settings remains uncertain and requires further invest...

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is the fourth cause of pleural effusions, after pneumonia, neoinfiltrates and tuberculosis. Several questions are yet unanswered: are the pleural effusions in PE exudates or transudates, what is their size, are they unilateral or bilateral, are they only haemorrhagic, etc. The aim of this study is to determine the frequency, side, size, biochemical and cytological charac...

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), orosomucoid beta2 microglobulin, and alpha fetoprotein were quantified in the pleural fluid and serum of 58 hospitalized consecutive patients in order to differentiate malignant from nonmalignant effusions. Cytologic examination of the effusions was also performed. The orosomucoid assay was the most helpful in identifying malignant effusions; higher values (>100 ...

Of 128 patients who underwent upper abdominal surgery, examined by standard preoperative and postoperative chest roentgenograms for the formation of postoperative pleural effusions, 89 had postoperative pleural effusions. Their presence was not related to the type of operation, infection, serum amylases, sex, smoking habits, or weight. There was no correlation between the localization of the pl...

Forty-eight patients with pleural effusions who had sonographically directed thoracocentesis were evaluated retrospectively for radiologic findings, pleural fluid chemistries, and outcome. Loculation was found to be a radiologic marker of diagnostic and prognostic significance. The presence of loculations correlated with exudative pleural fluid chemistries, but no radiologic finding was specifi...