title: Comparison of needle biopsy with pleural fluid analysis for the evaluation of pleural lesions.
abstract: A total of 60 pleural biopsies were received at Nidaan Clinic, Kathmandu during the period of two years from January 2000 to December 2002. The age of the patient ranged from 8 years to 82 years. Male: female ratio seen was 3:1. The most common lesion was found to be chronic nonspecific; pleuritis seen in 50.0% cases followed by tuberculous pleuritis in 36.7% cases, metastatic adenocarcinoma in 8.3% cases, metastatic small cell carcinoma in 3.3% cases and anaplastic large cell carcinoma in 1.7% cases. 63.3% cases of chronic nonspecific pleuritis showed transudative pleural fluid effusion. None of the cases of tuberculous pleuritis had transudative pleural effusion. 2 cases (40.0%) of metastatic adenocarcinoma had transudative pleural fluid effusion which suggests the need to perform pleural biopsy in all the cases of transudative pleural effusion whether encountered for malignancy or not.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Nepal Medical College, Kathmandu, Nepal. drsrauniyar@indiatimes.com
authors.forename: Shyam Kumar
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Rauniyar
authors.forename: Anshu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.forename: Shyamal Kumar
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Bhattacharya
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010994:Pleura / Q000473:pathology*; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000473:pathology*; D010998:Pleurisy / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D014396:Tuberculosis, Pleural / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology