title: [Diagnostic value of soluble B7-H4 in malignant pleural effusion].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the diagnostic value of soluble B7-H4 (sB7-H4) in tuberculous pleural effusion and malignant pleural effusion.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 98 patients of pleural effusion treated in Nanjing Chest Hospital from January 2007 to December 2009 were enrolled. The etiologies were tuberculous (n = 48) and malignant (n = 50). The levels of sB7-H4 in pleural effusion were detected by sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. The rational clinical diagnostic value was established by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The level of sB7-H4 in malignant pleural effusion was significant higher than that in tuberculous effusion ((65.7 ± 5.8) vs (28.6 ± 8.7) µg/L, P < 0.05). The cut-off value of sB7-H4 was 36.5 µg/L for malignant pleural effusion. And the rates of sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were 92.0%, 83.3% and 87.8% respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The level of sB7-H4 may be used as a valuable parameter in the differentiation of tuberculous from malignant effusion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nanjing Chest Hospital, Nanjing, China. xuchunhua74@163.com
authors.forename: Chun-hua
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Li-ke
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005122:Exudates and Transudates / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000175:diagnosis; D016066:Pleural Effusion, Malignant / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014396:Tuberculosis, Pleural / Q000175:diagnosis; D060907:V-Set Domain-Containing T-Cell Activation Inhibitor 1 / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D060907:V-Set Domain-Containing T-Cell Activation Inhibitor 1