411

Abstract

Introduction: Exudative pleural effusion is formed in half of the malignancies in which diagnosis of the cause appears necessary Hypothesis: We embarked on whether pleural effusion procalcitonin (PCT) level as a biomarker could have clinical and statistical significance in diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion Methods: Pleural fluid PCT concentrations were measured prospectively in 106 patients with exudative pleural effusion Results: procalcitonin level was the only significantly different marker in pleural effusion between malignant and non-malignant group. Using a ROC curve, the area under curve (AUC) for exudative pleural fluid procalcitonin level in malignancies was 0.717 with 95% CI of 0.618-0.818 and p-value of 0.0005. Malignancy group had a statistical significant AUC compare to non-malignant group. By using Youden index the best cut-off point for maximum sensitivity and specificity was determined as 0.52 ng/dl Conclusions: pro-calcitonin (PCT) can be more accurate, efficient, specific and useful in diagnosing malignancies exudative PE than current modules.