Pleural Effusion and Plasma Levels of Fibrinolytic Parameters in Tuberculosis Pleurisy and Contribution to the Diagnosis

Objective: The presence of a relationship between tuberculosis and hypercoagulability has been reported. In the case of the occurrence of hypercoagulability, the body responds by activating the fibrinolytic system. In this study, we aimed to investigate the values of fibrinolytic parameters and their contribution to the diagnosis in patients with tuberculosis pleurisy (TP).
Methods: Forty four patients with tuberculosis pleurisy (30 cases), malignant plural effusion (8 cases), and transudative pleural effusion (6 cases) were involved in the study. Transudative and malignant fluids constituted the control group. The concentrations of pleural fluid and plasma D-Dimer, fibrinogen, tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA), plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1), t-PA/PAI-1 complexes and serum, and pleural fluid, adenosine deaminase (ADA), glucose, lactate hydrogenase (LDH), total protein and albumin levels of the cases were measured.
Results: In the patients with tuberculosis pleurisy, the values of pleural fluid fibrinogen and pleural fluid PAI-1 were found to be significantly higher according to the results of Mann-Whitney U test (p≤0.05 and p≤0.001, respectively).
Conclusion: In tuberculosis pleurisy, fibrinolytic system activates in parallel with the increased hypercoagulation and fibrinolytic parameters also increase. These parameters can be benefited unless the diagnosis of tuberculosis pleurisy can be established through conventional diagnostic methods.