Table 2. Pleural Effusion Size and Variables between Non-, Uni- and Multi-loculated Parapneumonic Effusions (PPE).

	Non-loculated PPE†	Uni-loculated PPE	Multi-loculated PPE
	(n = 30)	(n = 12)	(n = 22)	p value
Effusion CXR score, %, mean ± SD	39±9	48±16*	61±10** , #	<0.001
pH value	7.40	7.12***	7.15***	<0.001
	(7.37–7.41)	(6.92–7.19)	(6.80–7.30, n = 18)
Glucose, mg/dl	123	111	57*** , ##	<0.001
	(108–163)	(60–157)	(27–90)
Protein, g/l	3.7	4.4	4.2	0.24
	(3.5–4.7)	(2.0–5.0)	(4.0–4.8)
LDH, IU/dl	155	636**	1677***	<0.001
	(97–320)	(300–2263)	(760–3332)
Leukocyte count, cells/µl	1146	5155*	10080***	0.004
	(356–3410)	(2060–13221)	(1750–19710)
PAI-1, ng/ml	53.0	108.1**	104.0***	<0.001
	(16.7–104.1)	(69.2–198.0)	(92.4–212.0)
tPA, ng/ml	15.0	15.1	8.3* , #	0.03
	(8.7–21.0)	(4.8–25.9)	(3.2–16.7)
PAI-1/tPA ratio	3.5	11.4**	16.1*** , #	<0.001
	(1.1–5.9)	(4.4–21.3)	(10.1–32.3)
IL-8, pg/ml	193	5905***	6484*** , #	<0.001
	(61–670)	(4586–6348)	(6009–6773)
VEGF, pg/ml	530	2928***	5384*** , ###	<0.001
	(185–1645)	(1861–4887)	(5255–5601)

See Table 1 for definition of the abbreviations.

Data are presented as the median (IQR) unless specified.

^†Non-loculated PPE group includes 26 UPPE and 4 CPPE patients.

^*p<0.05,

^**p<0.01 and

^***:p<0.001 versus non-loculated PPE group;

^#p<0.05,

^##p<0.01 and

^###:p<0.001 versus uni-loculated PPE group.