Histiocytic pleural effusion: the strong clue to malignancy

Table 3 Component to which Light’s criteria are applied in exudative HisPE

	Malignant PE (n = 102)	Parapneumonic effusion (n = 9)	Tuberculous pleurisy (n = 9)	Heart failure, liver cirrhosis, or renal failure (n = 24)	Total (n = 144)
Only protein criteria^a	19 (18.6)	1 (11.1)	1 (11.1)	5 (20.8)	26 (18.1)
Only LDH criteria^b	21 (20.6)	2 (22.2)	2 (22.2)	16 (66.7)	41 (28.5)
Both protein and LDH criteria	62 (60.8)	6 (66.7)	6 (66.7)	3 (12.5)	77 (53.5)

Data are presented as n (%)
HisPE histiocytic pleural effusion, PE pleural effusion, LDH lactate dehydrogenase
^aThe ratio of pleural fluid to serum protein is over 0.5
^bThe ratio of pleural fluid to serum LDH is over 0.6 or the absolute pleural fluid LDH level is over 2/3 of the upper normal limit

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