Evaluation of usefulness of pleural fluid adenosine deaminase in diagnosing tuberculous pleural effusion from empyema

Objective: To evaluate the utility of adenosine deaminase activity in the pleural fluid for the diagnosis of tuberculous pleural effusion from empyema of non-tubercular origin. Method: A retrospective analysis of data was performed on patients who were diagnosed to have tuberculous pleural effusion and empyema of non tubercular origin. Among 46 patients at Kasturba Hospital, Manipal University, Manipal, Karnataka, India, from November 2012 to February 2013 who underwent pleural fluid adenosine deaminase estimation, 25 patients with tuberculous pleural effusion and 21 patients with empyema were diagnosed respectively. Adenosine deaminase in pleural fluid is estimated using colorimetric, Galanti and Guisti method. Results: Pleural fluid Adenosine Deaminase levels among tuberculous pleural effusion(109.38±53.83), empyema (141.20±71.69) with P=0.27. Conclusion: Pleural fluid adenosine deaminase alone cannot be used as a marker for the diagnosis of tuberculous pleural effusion.