Diagnostic thoracentesis results of tuberculous versus non-tuberculous effusions: continuous and categorical variables
| Continuous variables | ||||||||
| Variable | Tuberculous effusion (n=66) | Non-tuberculous effusion (n=23) | ||||||
| Mean | SD | Median | IQR | Mean | SD | Median | IQR | |
| pH | 7.33 | 0.11 | 7.34 | 0.16 | 7.31 | 0.18 | 7.32 | 0.15 |
| Lymphocytes (%) | 76 | 23 | 84 | 23 | 47 | 35 | 49 | 77 |
| Neutrophils (%) | 13 | 19 | 5 | 17 | 30 | 34 | 39 | 59 |
| Protein (g/l) | 54.2 | 13.6 | 56.0 | 13.5 | 49.3 | 15.9 | 49.5 | 21.0 |
| Albumin (g/l) | 25.3 | 9.0 | 26.0 | 10.5 | 26.9 | 10.1 | 26.5 | 12.0 |
| LDH (IU/l) | 574 | 900 | 385 | 295 | 1675 | 2147 | 1027 | 1770 |
| ADA (IU/l) | 96.9 | 41.4 | 96.9 | 53 | 49.2 | 48.4 | 37.1 | 40 |
| Categorical variables | ||||
| Tuberculous effusion (n=66) | Non-tuberculous effusion (n=23) | |||
| Variable | n | % | n | % |
| ADA >50 IU/l | 59 | 89.4 | 6 | 26.1 |
| Lymphocyte predominant* | 60 | 90.9 | 9 | 39.1 |
| ADA >50 IU/l and lymphocyte predominant | 55 | 83.3 | 1 | 4.3 |
| Culture positive for bacteria other than M tuberculosis | 0 | 0 | 7 | 30.4 |
| AFB positive | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| M tuberculosis culture positive | 17 | 25.8 | 0 | 0 |
| Cytology positive for malignant cells | 0 | 0 | 5 | 21.7 |
* Lymphocytic predominant effusion: >75% lymphocytes and/or lymphocyte to neutrophil ratio >0.75.
SD, standard deviation; IQR, interquartile range; ADA, adenosine deaminase; AFB, acid-fast bacilli; LDH, lactate dehydrogenase; M tuberculosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis.