BACKGROUND Malignant pleural effusions are one of the leading causes of exudative pleural effusions. We studied the clinical profile of patients presenting with malignant pleural effusion, their cytological and histopathological features and the efficacy of pleurodesis in preventing recurrence. MATERIALS AND METHODS 100 patients who were positive for malignant cells in pleural fluid cytology ...

Pleural effusion is a common clinical problem. In the normal state, the pleural cavity is bathed in a small volume of physiologic pleural fluid containing mainly macrophages and lymphocytes. The volume of the pleural fluid can increase dramatically with most pathologic conditions affecting the pleura. The pleural effusion will alter the respiratory mechanics, commonly resulting in dyspnea. It i...

INTRODUCTION Parapneumonic pleural empyema is a critical illness. Age is an acknowledged risk factor for both pneumonia and pleural empyema. Furthermore, elderly patients often have severe co-morbidity. In the case of pleural empyema, their clinical condition is likely to deteriorate fast, resulting in life threatening septic disease. To prevent this disastrous situation we adapted early surgi...

PURPOSE To evaluate the value of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in the differential diagnosis of pleural effusions. MATERIALS AND METHODS 58 pleural effusions (21 transudative, 37 exudative) were included in this prospective study. Single-shot echo-planar spin echo DWI was performed with two b factors (500 and 1000 s/mm (2)), and apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) were calculated. On di...

Tuberculosis is a global health problem whose morbidity and mortality is increasing, as one-third of the world population is estimated to be infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis and eight million new active cases occur annually commonest being pulmonary tuberculosis and is often associated with effusion. Delay in diagnosis and treatment results in poor prognosis. Adenosine deaminase estimat...

Lactoferrin was analysed with an ELISA in pleural effusions from 21 patients with malignant exudative effusions (15 carcinomas and 6 mesotheliomas), 12 patients with non-malignant exudative effusions of unknown aetiology, 11 patients with transudative effusions due to congestive heart failure, 12 patients with exudative effusions secondary to infection, and 2 patients with tuberculous effusions...

Pleural effusions can present in 40% of patients with pneumonia. Presence of an effusion can complicate the diagnosis as well as the management of infection in lungs and pleural space. There has been an increase in the morbidity and mortality associated with parapneumonic effusions and empyema. This calls for employment of advanced treatment modalities and development of a standardized protocol...

BACKGROUND It is a common practice to anesthetize patients before performing a thoracentesis. We postulated that this technique may cause a clinically significant difference in the pH of the pleural fluid. METHODS We compared two methods of determining pleural fluid pH. Fifty patients undergoing diagnostic or therapeutic thoracentesis were enrolled. Two 4-mL aliquots of pleural fluid were ana...

BACKGROUND Simple parapneumonic effusion is a pleural effusion associated with lung infection (i.e., pneumonia). Streptococcus pneumoniae remains the most common pathogen causing parapneumonic effusions. In Morocco, the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine 13-valent (PCV13) was introduced in the national immunization program in October 2010 in 2 + 1 schedule for prevention of pneumococcal disease, an...

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...