Nonspecific pleural effusion vs malignant and granulomatous pleural disease.

as evidenced by the very low levels of antibody found in our patients. In our study, no overlap in optical density values were seen between sarcoidosis and tuberculosis, but in a larger series overlap will probably be seen. While it is not yet possible to discriminate between tuberculosis and other diseases with complete reliability, we would proceed to invasive modalities (transbronchial lung biopsy, mediastinoscopy or open lung biopsy with specimen culture) for diagnosing tuberculosis in any sputum-negative patient deemed-on clinical or pathologic grounds-to have sarcoidosis who has high levels of antibody to mycobacterial antigen.