CLINICAL DISCRIMINATION BETWEEN TUBERCULOUS AND MALIGNANT PLEURAL EFFUSIONS: AN ANALYSIS BASED ON BIOMARKERS AND SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS

Samenvatting

Background: Many times, it is difficult to differentiate between malignant & tubercular pleural effusion because of some common symptoms in both diseases. The present study was aimed to differentiate these two-disease based on pleural fluid biomarkers & some sociodemographic factors.
Material & methods: The present hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted in Government medical college Akola, Maharashtra. Total 50 study subjects were studied during in time period. 25 cases of Microbiologically confirmed Tuberculosis & 25 cases of malignancy confirmed on cytology were selected randomly from medicine ward & their pleural fluid sample were sent in pathology department for further evaluation. Comparison between these two were done on the basis of sociodemographic profile & pleural fluid biomarkers like pH, LDH, TLC, ADA, glucose, protein etc. P values were calculated to know the statistical significant difference between two diseases.
Results: Sociodemographic profile like age, weight & personal habits like smoking, alcohol consumption, biomass fuel exposure also Pleural fluid biomarkers like pleural fluid ADA, TLC, glucose were found statistically significant with diagnosis of TB or malignancy.
Conclusion: Sociodemographic profile & Pleural fluid biomarkers like pleural fluid ADA, TLC, glucose, protein can be considered as a tool to differentiate malignant from tubercular pleural effusion.