ArticleCureus2024
Prospective Evaluation of Safety and Diagnostic Efficacy of Medical Thoracoscopy in Undiagnosed Exudative Pleural Effusion: Experience From a Tuberculosis High-Burden Country.
Article in Cureus, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Malignancy Presenting As Recurrent Empyema: A Report of Two Cases and a Systematic Review.Cureus · 2026Article
- Five-year Experience of Using Single Port Rigid Thoracoscopy in Patients of Undiagnosed Exudative Pleural Effusion at Tertiary Center in North India.Annals of African medicine · 2026Article
- Comparative diagnostic efficacy of ultrasound-guided, medical thoracoscopic, and blind pleural biopsy in tuberculous pleurisy.Journal of thoracic disease · 2025Article
- Diagnostic Efficacy of C-Reactive Protein in Differentiating Various Causes of Exudative Pleural Effusion: Disease Research Should Not Be Exclusive to the Wealthy.Advances in respiratory medicine · 2025Article
- Diagnostic Utility of Thoracoscopy in Recurrent Exudative Pleural Effusion: A Single-Arm Interventional Study.Cureus · 2025Article
- Diagnostic value of metagenomic next-generation sequencing combined by medical thoracoscopy surgery among infectious pleural effusion patients.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
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8 authors.
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Abstract
introductionPleural effusion is due to the pathological accumulation of pleural fluid in the pleural space, 25%-30% of which may remain undiagnosed despite the combination of biochemical, microbiological, and pathological tests and closed pleural biopsy. Medical thoracoscopy may help physicians diagnose such cases. We aimed to study the diagnostic yield of medical thoracoscopy in patients with undiagnosed exudative pleural effusion and assess the safety profile of the medical thoracoscopy. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 105 patients with undiagnosed pleural effusion. Medical thoracoscopy was performed using an Olympus semi-rigid thoracoscope (LTF 160 Evis Pleurovideoscope, Japan) as per standard protocol. Multiple pleural biopsies were taken and sent for histopathology examination, NAAT (nucleic acid amplification test), and MGIT (mycobacteria growth indicator tube). Post-procedure, the patients were evaluated for any complications.
resultsA total of 105 patients were enrolled in the study. The mean ± SD age was 55.1 ± 13.6 years. Sixty-three (60%) patients were males. The diagnostic utility of medical thoracoscopy was found in 94 (89.5%) patients. The diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) was made in 34 (32.3%) patients, and 48 (45.7%) patients were diagnosed with malignant pleural effusion. Adenocarcinoma of the lung was the most common malignancy diagnosed (32 patients, 66.6%). Five (5.31%) patients had dual etiology of pleural effusion: tubercular and malignancy. The most common complication was chest pain following the procedure (99.4%). One patient developed pneumomediastinum and was managed conservatively. There were no major adverse events after the procedure.
conclusionsMedical thoracoscopy has a high diagnostic yield and favorable safety profile with minimal complications. Excessive reliance on the level of ADA (adenosine deaminase) may further delay the diagnosis. Dual etiologies like TB coexisting with malignancy should be considered in TB high-burden countries.
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