Concordant and Discordant Exudates and Their Effect on the Accuracy of Light's Criteria to Diagnose Exudative Pleural Effusions.

Introduction: To describe the incidence of discordant exudate (DE) effusions, their underlying etiologies and their effect on the accuracy of the Light's criteria to diagnose exudate effusions.

Methods: A retrospective review of pleural fluid analysis (PFA) from a cohort of patients with pleural effusion (PE) who underwent thoracentesis. PEs were defined as exudative based on the Light's criteria.

Pleural Fluid Analysis in Chronic Hemothorax: A Mimicker of Infection.

Objectives: Timing to video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) in hemothorax is based on preventing acute and long-term complications of retained blood products in the pleural space, including pleural space infection. We propose that the persistence of blood in the pleural space induces a proinflammatory state, independent of active infection.

Methods: We identified six patients with a hemothorax by clinical history, radiographic imaging, and pleural fluid analysis from a database of 1133 patients undergoing thoracentesis from 2002 to 2010 at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Raxibacumab: potential role in the treatment of inhalational anthrax.

Anthrax is a highly contagious and potentially fatal human disease caused by Bacillus anthracis, an aerobic, Gram-positive, spore-forming rod-shaped bacterium with worldwide distribution as a zoonotic infection in herbivore animals. Bioterrorist attacks with inhalational anthrax have prompted the development of more effective treatments. Antibodies against anthrax toxin have been shown to decrease mortality in animal studies.

Improving the predictive accuracy of identifying exudative effusions.

Background: Application of Light's criteria results in misclassification of some transudative effusions as exudative, particularly because of congestive heart failure (CHF). We sought to determine if the serum to pleural fluid albumin (SF-A) and serum to pleural fluid protein (SF-P) gradients increased the predictive accuracy to correctly identify exudative effusions.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 1,153 consecutive patients who underwent a diagnostic thoracentesis at the Medical University South Carolina.

Unusual bacterial infections and the pleura.

Rickettsiosis, Q fever, tularemia, and anthrax are all bacterial diseases that can affect the pleura. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) and Mediterranean Spotted Fever (MSF) are caused by Rickettsia rickettsii and Rickettsia conorii, respectively. Pleural fluid from a patient with MSF had a neutrophil-predominant exudate.

Tobacco point-of-sale advertising in Guatemala City, Guatemala and Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Objectives: To determine tobacco point of sale advertising prevalence in Guatemala City, Guatemala and Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Methods: Convenience stores (120 per city) were chosen from randomly selected blocks in low, middle and high socioeconomic neighbourhoods. To assess tobacco point of sale advertising we used a checklist developed in Canada that was translated into Spanish and validated in both countries studied.