Abstract

Pleural effusion etiologies are diagnosed based on serum and plural fluid characteristics. However, diagnosis of different etiologies such as Tuberculosis (TB) or malignancy is still a challenge. Pro-Calcitonin (PCT) may have diagnostic value in exudative pleural effusion. The aim of this study was to assess PCT level in plural fluid and to find an appropriate cut off point for different etiologies of plural effusion. This study was conducted on 49 patients with exudative plural effusion and measured plural PCT. There was no significant difference between different etiologies in plural fluid characteristics except for plural PCT. The mean Plural PCT was significantly higher in metastatic pleural effusion (1.08 ± 1.1 ng/mL) than in TB (0.24 ± 0.04 ng/mL). Area under curve for metastatic pleurisy was 0.78 with 95% CI of 0.61-0.94, and specificity and sensitivity were 0.44 and 0.90 at the 0.3 ng/mL cut-off values. Findings of present study showed that plural PCT level could be of diagnostic value in metastatic pleurisy but not TB with appropriate sensitivity and specificity.

Key words: Tuberculosis, pleurisy, plural effusion, procalcitonin, neoplastic