title: Efficacy of adenosine deaminase in the diagnosis of pleural effusions.
abstract: Adenosine deaminase (ADA) activity was studied in 53 patients with pleural effusions. Patients with tuberculous pleural effusion (36) had significantly higher ADA activity (77.68 IU/L; P less than 0.001) in comparison to malignant (14.47 IU/L) and parapneumonic (28.65 IU/L) effusions. When tested with a reference limit of over 50.75 IU/L, the specificity of ADA activity was found to be 94.1 per cent. With a sensitivity of 100 per cent, low cost and easy performance pleural fluid ADA activity is proposed as a routine investigation for etiological diagnosis in pleural effusion.
authors: Department of Medicine, Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi.
authors: D K
authors: DK
authors: Gupta
authors: J C
authors: JC
authors: Suri
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Goel
mesh_terms: D000243:Adenosine Deaminase; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis*
chemical_list: D000243:Adenosine Deaminase