Background Tuberculous pleuritis remains the commonest cause of exudative effusions in areas with a high prevalence of tuberculosis and histological and/or microbiological confirmation on pleural tissue is the gold standard for its diagnosis. Uncertainty remains regarding the choice of closed pleural biopsy needles.

Objectives This prospective study compared ultrasound-assisted Abrams and Tru-Cut needle biopsies with regard to their diagnostic yield for pleural tuberculosis.

Methods 89 patients (54 men) of mean±SD age 38.7±16.7 years with pleural effusions and a clinical suspicion of tuberculosis were enrolled in the study. Transthoracic ultrasound was performed on all patients, who were then randomly assigned to undergo ≥4 Abrams needle biopsies followed by ≥4 Tru-Cut needle biopsies or vice versa. Medical thoracoscopy was performed on cases with non-diagnostic closed biopsies. Histological and/or microbiological proof of tuberculosis on any pleural specimen was considered the gold standard for pleural tuberculosis.

Results Pleural tuberculosis was diagnosed in 66 patients, alternative diagnoses were established in 20 patients and 3 remained undiagnosed. Pleural biopsy specimens obtained with Abrams needles contained pleural tissue in 81 patients (91.0%) and were diagnostic for tuberculosis in 54 patients (sensitivity 81.8%), whereas Tru-Cut needle biopsy specimens only contained pleural tissue in 70 patients (78.7%, p=0.015) and were diagnostic in 43 patients (sensitivity 65.2%, p=0.022).

Conclusions Ultrasound-assisted pleural biopsies performed with an Abrams needle are more likely to contain pleura and have a significantly higher diagnostic sensitivity for pleural tuberculosis.