ArticleERJ open research2026
Revisiting Light's criteria: a validated blood-free triple combination matches diagnostic accuracy in over 7000 patients.
Article in ERJ open research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Pleural effusions: seeing transudate-exudate differentiation in a different light.ERJ open research · 2026Article
- Detecting reconciliation discrepancies in tabular data using transformers.Frontiers in artificial intelligence · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Light's criteria remain the standard for distinguishing exudative from transudative pleural effusions, but require serum sampling and lack specificity. We assessed whether a pleural fluid-only approach could match the diagnostic accuracy. Methods: We analysed 7280 diagnostic thoracenteses from a single centre, divided into derivation (n=5000) and validation (n=2280) cohorts. We compared Light's criteria with a triple (protein >3 g·dL Results: The triple combination showed no significant AUC difference Conclusion: A pleural fluid-only triple combination matches Light's criteria in diagnostic accuracy, avoids serum sampling and improves specificity with minimal sensitivity loss in one cohort. This approach may be a practical alternative for the initial classification of pleural effusion when blood sampling is unavailable or undesirable.
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Registered trials
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