Table 2.
Patient demographics (N = 100).
| Characteristic | Mean [SD] or n (%) |
|---|---|
| Age in years, mean [SD] | 70.9 [15.9] |
| Female | 54 (54) |
| Inpatient | 92 (92) |
| Ventilatory support | 25 (25) |
| Mechanical ventilation | 17 (17) |
| Bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP) | 7 (7) |
| Pleural fluid results | |
| Bilateral transudates | 35 (35) |
| Bilateral exudates | 53 (53) |
| Bilateral non-matching (exudate & transudate) | 12 (12) |
| Bilateral malignant effusions | 19 (19) |
| Complications recorded by radiologists within 24 h of thoracentesis | |
| Pneumothorax | 7 (7) |
| Edema | 12 (12) |
| Atelectasis | 1 (1) |
| New Infiltrate | 7 (7) |
|
| |
| Analysis of pleural fluid extracted from right side of patients | |
|
| |
| Characteristic | Median {Range} or n (%) |
|
| |
| Fluid volume removed | 875.0 {5–2000} |
| Glucose (mg/dl) | 131.0 {2–282} |
| Lactate dehydrogenase (U/L) | 143.0 {35–2700} |
| Protein (g/dL) | 2.4 {0.6–6.40} |
| pH | 7.46 {7.16–7.63} |
| Granulocytes% | 12.5 {1–98} |
| Lymphocytes% | 25.0 {0–86} |
| Red blood cells | 1460.5 {3–267,000} |
| Microbiology, negative n (%) | 97 (97) |
*
Missing data: glucose right (n = 2), granulocytes right (n = 1), LDH right (n = 1), pH right (n = 1), microbiology right (n = 1).