Journal of Clinical & Experimental Pathology
Open Access

Abstract

Biopsy of the pleura has been an important diagnostic tool since its first description by DeFrancis et al in 1955. Pleural biopsy is of greatest value in the diagnosis of granulomatous and malignant diseases of the pleura. It is performed on patients with undiagnosed exudative effusions with non-diagnostic cytology and a clinical suspicion of tuberculosis or malignancy. Present study was carried out on 50 pleural biopsies over a period of three years (mid 2011 to mid 2014) out of which 40 were males and 10 were females with a male to female ratio of 4:1. Age of patients ranged from 20-80 years with mean age of 50 years. Majority of cases belonged to age group of 41-60 years. 90% of the pleural biopsies were adequate for opinion. Out of the adequate biopsies 33 cases (73%) revealed benign lesions (predominant inflammatory) whereas 12 cases (27%) were diagnosed as malignant comprising adenocarcinoma (4 cases), squamous cell carcinoma (3 cases), small cell carcinoma (2 cases), poorly differentiated carcinoma (2 cases) and mesothelioma (1 case). 6 cases belonged to tubercular etiology. It was concluded from the study that inflammatory lesion was the commonest finding observed followed by malignant lesion and tuberculosis. Pleural biopsies are important in diagnosing pleural lesions which were earlier missed in other investigative procedures carried for detecting respiratory lesion.

Biography

Sucheta Malik completed her MBBS followed by Internship at the age of 23 years from Pt. B D Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences. Presently she is doing residency in Pathology from the same institute. She has keen interest in learning about new updates in Pathology.