Pleural fluid prealbumin and C-reactive protein in the differential diagnosis of infectious and malignant pleural effusions.

Clinical history and physical examination are helpful in indicating the potential causes of pleural effusions (PEs). However, the accurate diagnosis and establishment of the causes of PE is an ongoing challenge in daily clinical practice. The primary aim of this study was to distinguish between infectious PE and malignant PE (MPE) by measuring two major acute phase response biomarkers: prealbumin (PA) and C-reactive protein (CRP). The study was a prospective trial involving 151 patients who were diagnosed with infectious PE or MPE. Patients with infectious PE were divided into two subgroups: tuberculous PE (TBPE) and parapneumonic PE (PNPE). A further 58 patients with PEs that showed no evidence of MPE, TBPE or PNPE were classified as the chronic non-specific PE (NSPE) group. Demographic characteristics and pleural fluids of the subjects were collected consecutively. The discriminative properties of pleural fluid routine biochemistries, and PA and CRP were evaluated. PA, CRP and classical fluid parameters were also applied to classify patients with infectious PE and MPE. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis established the cutoffs of PA and CRP for discriminating between groups. Pleural fluid PA levels were significantly higher in the MPE group (n=47) than in the infectious PE group (n=104). Pleural fluid CRP levels were significantly higher in the infectious PE group than in the MPE group. Pleural fluid PA levels were identified to be moderately negatively correlated with CRP levels in the MPE group, with a statistically significant correlation coefficient of -0.352. The ROC curve showed that the sensitivity and specificity of PA for the diagnosis of MPE were 0.851 and 0.548, respectively, at the cutoff of 28.3 mg/l. The area under the curve (AUC) was 0.784 (95% CI, 0.707-0.861). Using CRP as a diagnostic parameter resulted in an comparable AUC of 0.810 (95% CI, 0.736-0.885), at the cutoff of 35.2 mg/l. Combinations of PA and CRP resulted in incrementally discriminating values for MPE, with a sensitivity of 0.617 and a specificity of 0.903. The measurement of PA and CRP levels in pleural fluid may be a useful adjunctive test in PE, as a potential differentiator between infectious PE and MPE.

Serum angiopoietin-2 and ß-hCG as predictors of prolonged uterine bleeding after medical abortion in the first trimester.

OBJECTIVE: The combination of mifepristone and misoprostol is an established method for induction of early first trimester abortion, but there is no consensus about the best evaluation of treatment outcome. We evaluate serum Angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) and ß human chorionic gonadotropin (ß-hCG) in women who had undergone a medical abortion as markers of prolonged uterine bleeding (PUB). METHODS: Prospective trial involving 2843 women attending an gynecology outpatient clinic who following a medical abortion with mifepristone and misoprostol, the study cohort was divided into women with duration of uterine bleeding >14 days (PUB) and women with duration of uterine bleeding ≤14 days (normal uterine bleeding, NUB). Serum determinations of Ang-2 levels by ELISA and ß-hCG levels by electrochemiluminiscence immunoassay. Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) analyses were calculated and plotted for the diagnostic accuracy of serum ß-hCG and Ang-2 concentration to discriminate PUB and NUB. RESULTS: Baseline characteristics for both groups were similar, Only duration of bleeding showed a significant difference between the PUB group and NUB group. Ang-2 serum levels moderately correlated with serum ß-hCG levels with statistically significant correlation coefficients of 0.536. Serum ß-hCG and Ang-2 levels on day 7 and on day 14 after medical abortion were signifcantly higher in PUB group than in NUB group. Plotted as ROC curves, ß-hCG area under curve (AUC) was 0.65 (95% CI, 0.53-0.76) on day 7, rising to AUC = 0.83 (95% CI, 0.75-0.92) on day 14. Using Ang-2 on day 7 and day 14 as predictive parameter resulted in an analogous AUC (AUC = 0.61 on day 7, AUC = 0.78 on day 14). CONCLUSIONS: Both parameters are clinically useful as a diagnostic test in predicting PUB after medical abortion, and can be helpful in uncertain clinical situations, but should be considered as supplementary to a general clinical evaluation.