title: Blind pleural biopsy in combination with cytology of pleural effusions.
abstract: The efficiency of a combination of blind pleural biopsy and pleural cytology was examined in a retrospective study of 181 cases observed between 1968 and 1978. The material contained 64 confirmed cases of malignant tumors and 20 of tuberculosis. Of the tumors, 81.3% were diagnosed by one or both methods; 18.7% remained negative. In 53% of the cases, the positive diagnoses corresponded between the two methods; in 26.6% the tumor was found only by cytology and in 10.9%, only by histology. Repeat investigations slightly improved the results with both methods. Reasons for false-negative cytology were bad preservation, fibrosis, nonexfoliative tumors and a mistake of preparation in one case. False-positive results occurred twice in histology, and two cases judged highly suspicious by cytology proved to be clinically negative. In cases of tuberculosis, histologic diagnosis was superior to microbiologic diagnosis.
mesh_terms: D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D006801:Humans; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000166:cytology*; D010997:Pleural Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014396:Tuberculosis, Pleural / Q000175:diagnosis*