Tuberculosis pleural: Utilidad de la reacción en cadena de la polimerasa en muestras de tejido

the diagnosis of tuberculous pleural effusion is difficult. the clinical trials and paraclinical essays are often nonspecific. the aim of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the polymerase chain reaction in pleural tissue for the diagnosis of tuberculosis in comparison with the culture and histopathological studies in patients with pleural effusion admited to the service of internal medicine hospital dr. domingo luciani, caracas, venezuela, between april 2005 and august 2006. we studied 52 patients, m / f (30 (57.7 %) / 22 (42.3 %), with an average age of 39 years. the value of clinical suspicion was 69.2%. the culture was positive in 6 cases (11.5 %) and tuberculoides granulomatous lesions were identified in 40.4 %. polymerase chain reaction showed a sensitivity of 50 % and specificity of 61 %. it was concluded that it is an effective test for the diagnosis of pleural tuberculosis.