A comparative study on initial pleural fluid findings of tuberculous pleurisy between patients with and those without pleural thickening.
- Author:
Sung Hyun LEE
1
;
Ji Ho YOON
;
Dong Chea LEE
;
Dae Sig KIM
;
Yeong Young KIM
;
Jin Woong LEE
;
Tae Yong YOON
;
Ji Woon KIM
Author Information
1. Department of Internal Medicine, St. Columban Hospital, Mokpo, Korea.
- Publication Type:Comparative Study ; Original Article
- Keywords:
Pleural diseases;
Interferon-gamma
- MeSH:
Glucose;
Humans;
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration;
Interferon-gamma;
Interleukin-1alpha;
Muramidase;
Pleural Diseases;
Tuberculosis, Pleural*;
Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
- From:Korean Journal of Medicine
2000;58(6):632-638
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Indicator that can predict pleural thickening in pleural tuberculosis has not been known clearly. By the previous study, patients with pleural thickening > or =10 mm had significantly lower glucose and pH values and higher lysozyme and TNF-alpha values than those with pleural thickening <10 mm, but interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) values were not significantly different. We studied the relationship between pleural thickening and biochemical, or immunologic finding in initial pleural fluid. METHODS: We followed up 22 patients who had been diagnosed as pleural tuberculosis. four patients (18.1%) had pleural thickening > or =10 mm and 12 patient (54.5%) had pleural thickening > or =3 mm. Initial pleural fluid protein, LDH, pH, glucose and IFN-gamma, Interleukin-1alpha (IL-1alpha) were studied. RESULTS: Pleural fluid levels of protein, LDH, glucose, and IFN-gamma were not statistically significant different not only between the group of pleural thickening > or =3 mm and the group of pleural thickening <3 mm, but also between the group of pleural thickening > or =10 mm and the group of pleural thickening <10 mm. The pleural fluid IFN-gamma level, the group with pleural thickening > or =3 mm (85.9+/- 37.1 U/mL) was significantly higher than without thickening (44.8+/-32.0 U/mL) (p< 0.05) and the group with pleural thickening> or =10 mm (106.9+/-8.6 U/mL) was significantly higher than without thickening (58.5+/-8.6 U/mL)(p< 0.001). CONCLUSION: Although patient number of our study was smaller than the previous study, IFN-gamma level in initial pleural fluid of pleural tuberculosis may be considered as the predictive factor of pleural thickening.
