Interpreting pleural fluid results correctly requires an awareness of the possible aetiologies
of a pleural effusion and an understanding of the reliability of the outcome of each …

Patients with primary pneumothorax are best initially treated with aspiration and, if this is
successful, hospitalization is usually not necessary. Patients with secondary pneumothorax …

Pleural effusion (PE) is a key feature for a wide range of diseases. Although there are
dozens of documented causes of PE, only a few are responsible for most of the cases in …

Study objective: The diagnostic value of tumor markers in pleural fluid is subject to debate.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of several tumor markers in …

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), an aggressive cancer associated with exposure to
fibrous minerals, can only be diagnosed in the advanced stage because its early symptoms …

Identifying the cause of pleural effusion is challenging for pulmonologists. Imaging, biopsy,
microbiology and biochemical analyses are routinely used for diagnosing pleural effusion …

Rationale: Evaluation of a pleural effusion has historically focused on establishing a single
etiology. Pleural fluid may accumulate through multiple pathophysiological processes. The …

Body fluids other than blood, urine and cerebrospinal fluid are often submitted for
biochemical analysis. Of these, pleural, peritoneal and pericardial fluids are the most …

Methods We examined 117 pleural fluid samples collected from patients who underwent
thoracentesis (632 procedures) in our hospital between 1995 and 2001. These pleural fluids …

Pleural disease diagnostics represent a sprawling topic that has enjoyed a renaissance in
recent years from humble beginnings. Whilst pleural patients are heterogeneous as a …