BACKGROUND: A follow-up thoracentesis is proposed in suspected atypical tuberculosis cases. The study aimed to define the variability of pleural ADA values across repeated thoracenteses in different types of pleural effusions (PEs) and to evaluate whether ADA variance, in regard to the cutoff value of 40 U/L, affected final diagnosis. METHODS: A total of 131 patients with PEs of various etiologies underwent three repeated thoracenteses. ADA values were subsequently estimated. RESULTS: 82% and 55% of patients had greater than 10% and 20% deviation from the highest ADA value, respectively. From those patients who had a variance of 20%, 36% had only increasing ADA values, while 19% had only decreasing values. Considering the cutoff value of 40 U/L, only in two cases, ADA decreased below this threshold, which concerned a man with tuberculous pleurisy and a woman with lymphoma both in the course of treatment. Furthermore, only in two cases with rising values, ADA finally exceeded the cutoff limit, which concerned a man with rheumatoid pleurisy and a man with tuberculous pleurisy. Surprisingly, malignant PEs (MPEs) showed a higher percentage of increasing values compared to all other exudates that did not, however, exceed the threshold. CONCLUSION: The determination of pleural ADA levels is a reproducible method for rapid tuberculosis diagnosis. The detected measurement deviations do not appear to affect final diagnosis. In specific situations, repeated ADA measurements may be valuable in directing further diagnostic evaluation. More investigation is needed to elucidate the possible prognostic significance of the increasing trend in ADA values in MPEs.
BACKGROUND: A follow-up thoracentesis is proposed in suspected atypical tuberculosis cases. The study aimed to define the variability of pleuralADA values across repeated thoracenteses in different types of pleural effusions (PEs) and to evaluate whether ADA variance, in regard to the cutoff value of 40 U/L, affected final diagnosis. METHODS: A total of 131 patients with PEs of various etiologies underwent three repeated thoracenteses. ADA values were subsequently estimated. RESULTS: 82% and 55% of patients had greater than 10% and 20% deviation from the highest ADA value, respectively. From those patients who had a variance of 20%, 36% had only increasing ADA values, while 19% had only decreasing values. Considering the cutoff value of 40 U/L, only in two cases, ADA decreased below this threshold, which concerned a man with tuberculous pleurisy and a woman with lymphoma both in the course of treatment. Furthermore, only in two cases with rising values, ADA finally exceeded the cutoff limit, which concerned a man with rheumatoid pleurisy and a man with tuberculous pleurisy. Surprisingly, malignant PEs (MPEs) showed a higher percentage of increasing values compared to all other exudates that did not, however, exceed the threshold. CONCLUSION: The determination of pleuralADA levels is a reproducible method for rapid tuberculosis diagnosis. The detected measurement deviations do not appear to affect final diagnosis. In specific situations, repeated ADA measurements may be valuable in directing further diagnostic evaluation. More investigation is needed to elucidate the possible prognostic significance of the increasing trend in ADA values in MPEs.
Authors: Seung Jun Lee; Hyun Sik Kim; Seung Hun Lee; Tae Won Lee; Hyang Rae Lee; Yu Ji Cho; Yi Yeong Jeong; Ho Cheol Kim; Jong Deog Lee; Young Sil Hwang Journal: Am J Med Sci Date: 2014-11 Impact factor: 2.378
Authors: Vasileios S Skouras; Sophia F Magkouta; Ioannis Psallidas; Irene Tsilioni; Panagiotis Maragozidis; Konstantinos I Gourgoulianis; Ioannis Kalomenidis Journal: Infect Dis (Lond) Date: 2015-03-10
Authors: F C Abrao; I R L Bruno de Abreu; D H Miyake; D H Miyaki; M A M Busico; R N Younes Journal: Int J Tuberc Lung Dis Date: 2014-11 Impact factor: 2.373
Authors: A H Diacon; B W Van de Wal; C Wyser; J P Smedema; J Bezuidenhout; C T Bolliger; G Walzl Journal: Eur Respir J Date: 2003-10 Impact factor: 16.671