OBJECTIVE: Closed pleural biopsy is known to be diagnostic in approximately 75% of @entity1143 undiagnosed by thoracocentesis or pleural fluid evaluation. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of closed pleural biopsy in a Saudi tertiary care teaching hospital. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the diagnostic utility of all closed pleural biopsies performed from January 1988 to December 1997 at the King Fahad National Guard Hospital, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. RESULTS: One hundred and twenty-two pleural biopsies were performed in 116 @entity1 using cope needle in 39, Abram's needle in 82, and Trucut needle in one @entity1 . Twelve cases were excluded due to transudative effusion (N=6) and obtaining no pleural tissue (N=6). Specific diagnoses were obtained in 54 cases giving a diagnostic yield of 49.1%. Of these 10 revealed @entity5 , 35 @entity378 , and 9 @entity3509 . A non-specific diagnosis was obtained in 56 (50.9%) cases. CONCLUSION: By closed pleural biopsy 49.1% of undiagnosed exudative @entity1143 could be diagnosed. This shows that closed pleural biopsy is still of value as a diagnostic procedure, and should be carried out prior to invasive procedures such as thoracoscopy or open pleural biopsy.

Diagnostic yield of closed pleural biopsy in exudative XXXX .

@entity1143 :: ('MESH:D010996', 'Disease') :: ['pleural effusion', 'pleural effusions'] @entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients', 'patient'] @entity5 :: ('MESH:D009369', 'Disease') :: ['neoplasia'] @entity3509 :: ('MESH:D004653', 'Disease') :: ['empyema'] @entity378 :: ('MESH:D014376', 'Disease') :: ['tuberculosis']
@entity1143 :: (MESH:D010996,Disease) :: ['pleural effusion']
