title: Factors influencing residual pleural opacity in tuberculous pleural effusion.
abstract: Tuberculous pleural effusion (TPE) leads to residual pleural opacity (RPO) in a significant proportion of cases. The aim of this study was to investigate which TPE patients would have RPO following the treatment. This study was performed prospectively for a total of 60 TPE patients, who underwent pleural fluid analysis on the initial visit and chest radiographs and computed tomography (CT) scans before and after the administration of antituberculous medication. At the end of antituberculous medication, the incidence of RPO was 68.3% (41/60) on CT with a range of 2-50 mm. Compared with the non-RPO group, the RPO group had a longer symptom duration and lower pleural fluid glucose level. On initial CT, loculation, extrapleural fat proliferation, increased attenuation of extrapleural fat, and pleura-adjacent atelectasis were more frequent, and parietal pleura was thicker in the RPO group compared with the non-RPO group. By multivariate analysis, extrapleural fat proliferation, loculated effusion, and symptom duration were found to be predictors of RPO in TPE. In conclusion, RPO in TPE may be predicted by the clinico-radiologic parameters related to the chronicity of the effusion, such as symptom duration and extrapleural fat proliferation and loculated effusion on CT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Respiratory Center, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Jee Sook
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Seung-Ick
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Cha
authors.forename: Kyung-Nyeo
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.forename: Young-Joo
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Eun-Jin
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Chang-Ho
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jae-Yong
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Tae-Hoon
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Jung