Tumour necrosis factor-alpha in comparison to adenosine deaminase in tuberculous pleuritis.

Background: Adenosine deaminase (ADA) is already used for the differential diagnosis of tuberculosis pleurisy. Tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF) is another marker which has been investigated for this purpose.

Objective: We evaluated the diagnostic value of pleural fluid and serum TNF concentrations in tuberculous pleuritis and compared them to ADA.