Background
Exudative pleural effusions have a broad etiology and usually necessitate further investigative workup including invasive procedures.
Aims and Objectives
The aim of this study was to compare the clinical and biochemical characteristics of tuberculous and malignant/nontuberculous pleural effusions.
Methods
This is a prospective multicenter cohort study of patients referred for medical thoracoscopy with an exudative pleural effusion.
Results
A total of 159 patients were enrolled in the study with a mean age of 42.49 ± 13.8 years. Patients with tuberculous effusions had a higher body temperature 37.2 ± 0.7 vs 36.9 ± 0.4, p <0.001). Serum analysis showed a statistically significant difference between white blood cell count 9.0 ±3.3 vs 7.5±2.7, p 0.004 and total protein 70.2 ± 8.9 vs 76.2 ± 10.1, p < 0.001 between tuberculous and non-tuberculosis effusions. Pleural fluid analysis revealed a significantly higher lymphocyte count, protein, and ADA in tuberculous effusions. (Table1)
| Cancer | Tuberculosis | Chronic Inflammation | P value | |
| Serum WBC (× 109/L) | 9.19 (3.5-15.3) | 7.55 (2.8-18.0) | 8.9 (3.7-17.9) | 0.003 |
| Serum Protein(mg\dl) | 67.17 (50-82) | 76.20 (26-95) | 71.93 (45-89) | <0.001 |
| Pleural Lymphocytes (%) | 50.09 (10-87) | 76.55 (15-96) | 61.00 (5-95) | <0.001 |
| Pleural Protein(mg\dl) |
43.65 (25-66) |
54.84 (19-70) |
47.39 (15-66) |
<0.001 |
| Pleural ADA (U/L) |
16.97 (0.98-50.79) |
73.96 (9.66-148) |
32.47 (5.51-131.79) |
<0.001 |
Conclusion
Our study validates previous findings showing similar results in patients with tuberculous pleural effusions. A predictive model using several of the collected parameters is being developed.