BACKGROUND A study was undertaken to evaluate the diagnostic value of pleural fluid concentrations of interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) as a marker of tuberculosis. METHODS Patients admitted to King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital between April 1997 and January 1998 with a lymphocytic exudative pleural effusion were enrolled into the study. The pleural fluids were examined for cytology, staining f...

Light's criteria (protein and LDH) have been used to the present to differentiate exudative pleural effusion from transudative. This is both time consuming and relatively more expensive as compared to measuring cholesterol. During 1992-1993, a prospective study on 70 patients with effusion was carried out measuring fasting LDH, protein, cholesterol, alkaline phosphatase and glucose. All pa...

BACKGROUND Pleural effusion (PF) is a common clinical presentation in several diseases. Various parameters from pleural fluid have been studied to identify the cause. The diagnostic value of these parameters varies. The present study was carried out to evaluate the value of alkaline phosphatase concentration in the pleural effusions as a diagnostic tool. METHODS One hundred and one patients w...

Background. There are no available literatures on massive pleural effusions (MPE) in our country. Aim. To determine the aetiology of MPE and compare the mortality rate between malignant and nonmalignant MPE in adult Nigerians. Methods. A prospective study of all the patients diagnosed with nontraumatic pleural fluid collections for one year in two tertiary federal hospitals in Southern Nigeria....

Videothoracoscopy has been proven to be a safe tool to establish the diagnosis in >90% of patients with exudative pleural effusions of unknown origin. In the majority of patients with malignant pleural diseases, the endoscopic appearance of pleural lesions during white light thoracoscopy is suggestive of malignancy, but could be misleading in some cases. The aim of the present study was to esti...

Pneumonia remains one of the most common infectious causes of mortality. Patients with pneumonia develop parapneumonic effusions with a high neutrophil count as well as high protein concentrations. We hypothesized that pulmonary parenchymal bacterial infection causes a permeability change in the pleural mesothelium by inducing the production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Complic...

The pleural space is created by the parietal and visceral pleura that line the chest wall and the lung surface, respectively. Normally, only a small amount (0.3 mL/kg) of hypotonic fluid is present within the pleural space due to homeostatic balances in physiologic fluid production and absorption. Various infectious and noninfectious processes can lead to pathologic filling of the pleural space...

When there is an exudative pleural effusion often both the parietal and the visceral pleura are affected, but the usual practice is to perform a percutaneous parietal pleural biopsy alone for diagnosis. Percutaneous visceral pleural biopsy was carried out in 20 patients with exudative pleural effusions with fenestrated cup biopsy forceps. In all 20 biopsies pleural tissue was obtained and it wa...

BACKGROUND Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) complicated by parapneumonic effusion/empyema is an infectious syndrome commonly encountered by physicians caring for children in Canada. OBJECTIVE To investigate the incremental benefit of novel molecular testing for the microbiological diagnosis of pediatric CAP complicated by parapneumonic effusion/empyema in Canada. METHODS A convenience sam...

Pneumonia and parapneumonic complicated effusion during pregnancy is uncommon but poses potentially serious risks to both mother and fetus. Enzymatic debridement of the pleural cavity with fibrinolytic agents is a noninvasive option that can facilitate drainage and prevent the need for surgery. Herein, we describe the cases of two pregnant women with parapneumonic empyema who were successfully ...