title: [Frequency of adenocarcinomas in serous effusions].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Metastatic adenocarcinomas in effusions are frequently observed. Cytologic diagnosis of adenocarcinoma is often precise; unfortunately, the classification of the primary site is not possible in a great number of cases. The scope of this study was to report the frequency of adenocarcinomas in effusions according to the primary site.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 2317 sequential cases: 1146 pleural effusions (943 women and 203 men), 1168 ascitic (727 women and 441 men), and 3 pericardial (2 women and 1 men).
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective analysis of the records of the patients and correlations of the data of clinical follow up and morphological findings.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The primary sites more frequently seen in pleural cavity were: breast (N = 586--51.1%), lung (N = 185--16.1%: 102 men and 83 women), and ovary (N = 124--10.8%); in ascites: stomach (N = 473--40.5%: 300 men and 173 women), ovary (N = 306--26.2%) and breast (N = 83--7.1%). Regarding only the samples of malignant effusions we observed 555 in pleural cavity: breast (N = 288--51.9%), lung (N = 92, 16.6%: 45 men and 47 women) and ovary (N = 54, 9.7%). In ascites we reported: ovary (N = 205--37.9%), stomach (N = 202--37.3%: 119 men and 83 women) and breast (N = 31--6.8%). In 47 pleural effusions (8.5%) and 37 ascites (6.8%), the original site of the neoplasia remained undetermined.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The knowledge of the relative frequencies, associated with clinical information, can be helpful in the selection of further investigation for the metastatic adenocarcinomas.
authors.affiliation: Divisão de Patologia do Instituto Adolfo Lutz, São Paulo.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Longatto Filho
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bisi
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bortolan
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lombardo
authors.forename: V A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Alves
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000556:secondary*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001201:Ascites / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010490:Pericardial Effusion / Q000473:pathology*; D016066:Pleural Effusion, Malignant / Q000473:pathology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies