Diagnostic yield of semi rigid thoracoscopy in unexplained exudative pleural effusion- Experience from tertiary care hospital of east India

Abstract

IntroductionIn most of the pleural effusion, fluid analysis generally gives the etiological diagnosis but in almost 20% it remains unclear. This study was designed to determine the diagnostic yield of a pleural biopsy using semi rigid thoracoscope and its complication rates. Materials and methodsThis was a retrospective observational study conducted in the Department of Pulmonary Medicine, AIIMS Patna. All the patients diagnosed as unexplained pleural effusion between Jan 2018 and December 2019 were included in the study. ResultsTotal 76 out of 97 patients with unexplained exudative pleural effusion underwent medical thoracoscopy in the given period of 2 years. The mean age of the patients was 57.63 years. There were 46 males and 30 females. 38 patients (50%) had right-sided pleural effusion. More than half (52.6%) of study patients were on Anti-tubercular treatment in which only 11.84% had tuberculosis. In both unilateral and bilateral pleural effusion, the proportions of small, moderate, and large size of pleural effusions were 10.52, 42.10, and 47.36%, respectively. Thoracoscopy yielded a definitive diagnosis in 66 out of 76 patients (86.84%), and in 10 patients (13.15%), biopsy was inconclusive. Of 76 patients, malignancy was confirmed in 58 (76.31%), and tuberculosis in 8 (11.84%) patients ConclusionThis study concludes that, medical thoracoscopy with semi-rigid thoracoscope is an invaluable tool in the diagnosis of patients with unexplained exudative pleural effusion. It is a very simple and safe method with high diagnostic yield and associated with few complications. Malignancy was found to be the most common cause of unexplained exudative pleural effusion