DIAGNOSTIC YIELD OF THORACOSCOPY IN MODERATE TO MASSIVE PLEURALEFFUSIONS

Dr. Sake Nagarajugari Rekha Nandhaki; Dr. P. Madhu Harsha; Dr. B. Neeharika

Volume : IX, Issue : III, March - 2019

DIAGNOSTIC YIELD OF THORACOSCOPY IN MODERATE TO MASSIVE PLEURALEFFUSIONS

Dr. Sake Nagarajugari Rekha Nandhaki, Dr. P. Madhu Harsha, Dr. B. Neeharika

Abstract :

Introduction: Worldwide, approximately a million patients develop pleural effusion annually. The accurate diagnosis of pleural diseases is a challenging task. Medical thoracoscopy also known as pleuroscopy today remains the gold standard technique for diagnosing and managing undiagnosed pleural effusion cases because of its high sensitivity in malignant and tubercular pleural effusions. Materials & Methods: It is a prospective descriptive study of 40 patients with pleural effusions. Complete patient history, physical examination, laboratory investigations , medical thorascopy were done to find out etiology of pleural effusions. Results: The mean age of distribution of undiagnosed pleural effusion in the present study was 47.57 ±16.04 years with male preponderance. In present study 38 out of 40 patents were definitively diagnosed. Diagnostic yield of thoracoscopic pleural biopsy was 95%. Conclusion: Medical thoracoscopy is a safe and effective tool for diagnosis in patients with undiagnosed pleural effusion with high diagnostic yield and low complication rate.