Background: In recent years, medical thoracoscopy has been well established to play an important role in undiagnosed pleural effusion; however, this procedure is underutilized due to limited availability of the instruments it requires. This study analysed the outcome of single port rigid thoracoscopy in patients with undiagnosed pleural effusions. Methods: This study retrospectively analysed the outcomes of all patients with undiagnosed pleural effusion presenting to our centre between 2016 to 2020 who underwent single port rigid medical thoracoscopy as a diagnostic procedure. Results: In total, 92 patients underwent single port rigid medical thoracoscopy. The most common presenting symptom was shortness of breath. A majority of the patients had lymphocytic exudative pleural effusion. The average biopsy sample size was 18 mm, and no major complication was reported in any of the patients. Conclusion Single port rigid thoracoscopy is a safe and well-tolerated procedure that yields a biopsy of a larger size with high diagnostic yield. Moreover, the low cost of the instruments required by this procedure makes it particularly suited for use in developing countries.

Effect of sodium nitroprusside (SNP), a nitric oxide (NO) donor, on in vitro survival, growth, steroidogenesis, and apoptosis of buffalo preantral follicles (PFs) was investigated. PFs (200~250 microm) were isolated by micro-dissection and cultured in 0 (control), 10(-3), 10(-5), 10(-7), and 10(-9) M SNP. To examine the reversible effect of SNP, PFs were cultured with 10(-5) M SNP + 1 mM Nomega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) or 1.0 microg hemoglobin (Hb). The results showed that greater concentrations of SNP (10(-3), 10(-5), 10(-7) M) inhibited (p < 0.05) FSH-induced survival, growth, antrum formation, estradiol production, and oocyte apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. However, a lower dose of SNP (10(-9) M) significantly stimulated (p < 0.05) the survival, growth, antrum formation, follicular oocyte maturation, and stimulated progesterone secretion compared to the control. A combination of SNP + L-NAME promoted the inhibitor effect of SNP while a SNP + Hb combination reversed this effect. Nitrate and nitrite concentrations in the culture medium increased (p < 0.05) in a dose-dependent manner according to SNP concentration in the culture medium. At higher concentrations, SNP had a cytotoxic effect leading to follicular oocyte apoptosis whereas lower concentrations have stimulatory effects. In conclusion, NO exerts a dual effect on its development of buffalo PFs depending on the concentration in the culture medium.
Animals ; *Apoptosis ; Buffaloes/*physiology ; Estradiol/biosynthesis ; Female ; Follicle Stimulating Hormone/metabolism ; NG-Nitroarginine Methyl Ester/pharmacology ; Nitrates/pharmacology ; Nitric Oxide/*metabolism ; Nitric Oxide Donors/pharmacology ; Nitrites/pharmacology ; Nitroprusside/pharmacology ; Oocytes/cytology/drug effects/growth & development/metabolism ; Ovarian Follicle/*cytology/drug effects/growth & development/*metabolism ; Progesterone/biosynthesis