Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Background: Clinical evaluation of a patient with pleural effusion relies heavily upon the examination of the fluid which is obtained by thoracentesis. The present study was conducted to assess type and cause of pleural effusion. Materials & Methods: 50 patients with pleural effusion of both genders were enrolled. The pleural effusions were categorized as exudative and transudative according to the causative etiology. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and accuracy of each parameter was performed. Results: Out of 50 patients, males were 30 and females were 20. Out of 50 patients, exudate was seen in 32 and transudate in 18. The cause found to be tuberculosis in 20, para pneumonic in 8 and malignancy in 4 cases and in transudate, the cause was heart failure in 12 and liver cirrhosis in 6 cases. The accuracy of LDH ratio was 89%, protein ratio was 93%, fluid cholesterol was 96% and bilirubin ratio was 89%. Conclusion: Type of pleural effusion was exudate and transudate. The cause found to be tuberculosis, para pneumonic and malignancy in exudate and in transudate, the cause was heart failure and liver cirrhosis.