Table 1.
Pleural fluid parameters of patients with MPE, TPE, or PPE in three cohorts.
| Cohort 1 | Cohort 2 | Cohort 3 | All | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MPE (n = 55) | TPE (n = 29) | PPE (n = 18) | MPE (n = 48) | TPE (n = 22) | PPE (n = 39) | MPE (n = 43) | TPE (n = 7) | PPE (n = 5) | MPE (n = 146) | TPE (n = 58) | PPE (n = 62) | |
| Color | ||||||||||||
| Yellow | 37 | 20 | 13 | 38 | 18 | 34 | 25 | 6 | 3 | 100 | 44 | 50 |
| Red | 12 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 36 | 8 | 8 |
| Yellow-red | 5 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 3 |
| Purulent/chylous | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Cytology | ||||||||||||
| Monocytes (%) | 82.00 (44.00–90.00) | 72.00 (29.00–90.50) | 83.00 (56.00–90.00) | 81.00 (66.80–92.00) | 94.00 (85.00–97.00) | 86.00 (51.50–93.50)** | 65.50 ± 16.95 | 81.85 ± 10.11 | 65.00 (12.50–73.00) | 78.00 (57.00–90.00) | 89.00 (66.50–94.50) | 83.00 (51.50–90.75) |
| Coenocyte (%) | 10.00 (5.00–29.00) | 17.00 (7.50–49.00) | 17.00 (4.00–44.00) | 19.00 (8.00–33.20) | 6.00 (3.00–15.00) | 14.00 (6.50–48.50)** | 33.06 ± 17.14 | 18.15 ± 10.11 | 33.00 (26.00–82.50) | 16.00 (7.00–37.60) | 10.00 (5.00–26.65) | 17.00 (7.00–48.50) |
| Glucose (mmol/L) | 6.60 (5.98−7.52)* | 6.02 (2.65−7.72) | 5.42 (1.05−7.88) | 6.36 (5.16−7.77) | 6.00 (5.12−7.27) | 6.83 (5.34−7.86)** | 6.96 ± 3.36 | 4.69 ± 1.33 | 7.37 ± 3.29** | 6.56 (5.47 −7.72) | 6.00 (4.24−7.27) | 6.30 (3.61−7.84)** |
| Protein (g/L) | 38.31 ± 11.18 | 42.04 ± 23.38 | 36.51 ± 10.46 | 41.20 (32.29−48.50) | 47.60 (38.00−52.00) | 39.10 (34.60−51.70)** | 42.11 ± 11.59 | 46.30 ± 3.58 | 16.38 ± 10.78 | 40.28 ± 11.31 | 43.86 ± 16.95 | 34.93 ± 12.95** |
| Chlorine (mmol/L) | 105.00 (101.00–107.00) | 104.00 (101.00–107.50) | 104.00 (101.00–106.00) | 106.60 (104.40–109.20) | 105.90 (101.70–107.70) | 108.70 (101.05–112.30) | 107.00 ± 8.29 | 108.53 ± 3.11 | 106.16 ± 11.96 | 106.10 (102.40–109.40) | 105.90 (101.00–107.70) | 105.50 (101.11–112.30) |
| Pleural LDH (U/L) | 272.00 (185.50−379.50) | 205.00 (149.50−506.50) | 255.00 (135.75−1250.50) | 301.00 (166.50−515.50)* | 317.00 (217.00−528.00) | 194.00 (148.50−453.50)** | 402.71 ± 344.51 | 335.50 ± 95.19 | 1164.00 ± 1913.08 | 288.50 (173.00−457.75)* | 281.00 (185.00−496.00) | 194.00 (142.00−746.00)** |
| ADA (U/L) | 8.55 (5.98−11.20)* | 28.00 (17.10−48.50) | 12.05 (8.85−34.00)** | 7.00 (5.00−11.00)* | 42.00 (35.00−47.00) | 13.00 (8.00−15.00)** | 9.37 ± 5.04* | 46.81 ± 14.62 | 2.40 ± 0.78** | 7.40 (5.38−11.00)* | 35.00 (21.00−47.00) | 13.00 (8.00−18.80)** |
| Cancer ratio | 26.79 (16.10−42.05)* | 9.09 (3.72−14.64) | 18.98 (4.68−25.88) | 32.40 (20.64−64.17)* | 4.93 (3.62−6.16) | 17.54 (10.70−24.14)** | 38.46 ± 31.11* | 4.24 ± 1.48 | 6.05 ± 6.44 | 29.84 (18.47−50.50)* | 4.96 (3.62−11.46) | 18.17 (10.47−24.29)** |
| Pleural LDH/ ADA ratio | – | 8.85 (6.01−19.04) | 23.83 (16.31−39.81)** | – | 8.43 (6.89−11.55) | 19.50 (12.53−28.71)** | – | 8.81 ± 3.74 | 21.72 ± 13.37 | – | 8.78 (6.51−13.25) | 20.00 (15.05−35.64)** |
ADA, adenosine deaminase; Cancer ratio, serum LDH/ pleural ADA; MPE, malignant pleural effusion; LDH, lactate dehydrogenase; PPE, parapneumonic pleural effusion; TPE, tuberculous pleural effusion.
Data are presented as the mean ± standard deviation or as the median (interquartile range). Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05.
*
P < 0.05 versus patients with benign pleural effusion.
**
P < 0.05 versus patients with TPE.