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. 1987 Apr;56(1):54–57.

Needle biopsy of the pleura in the diagnosis of pleural effusion

J J A McAleer, G J J Murphy, R J Quinn
PMCID: PMC2448169  PMID: 3590388

Abstract

Needle biopsy of the parietal pleura was undertaken in 64 patients with undiagnosed pleural effusion. An adequate specimen was obtained in 96% of procedures. This was diagnostic in 45% of those due to malignancy and in 50% of those due to tuberculosis. A second biopsy improved the combined diagnostic yield in these two diseases from 32% to 46%. Pleural fluid cytology was unhelpful in establishing the presence of a malignancy, and culture of the biopsy specimen was helpful in one case.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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