Biochemical and cytological characteristics in tbuerculous and malignant pleural effusion (PE)
| Tuberculous PE | Malignant PE | p-values# | |
| Subjects n | 32 | 30 | |
| Protein g·L−1 | 40.5±0.28 | 36.9±0.28 | 0.278 |
| Lactate dehydrogenase IU·L−1 | 554.5±95.3 | 786.0±152.1 | 0.386 |
| Total cell counts ×109·L−1 | 2.39±0.13 | 1.46±0.08 | <0.001 |
| Differential cell counts % | |||
| Lymphocyte | 73.1±1.2 | 46.8±1.2 | <0.001 |
| Neutrophil | 12.6±0.8 | 3.8±.06 | <0.001 |
| Macrophage | 12.9±0.8 | 38.3±1.7 | <0.001 |
| Mesothelial cell | 1.7±0.2 | 6.8±0.7 | <0.001 |
| Malignant cell | 4.3±1.0 |
Data are presented as mean±sem, unless otherwise stated. #: the comparison between tuberculous and malignant groups was performed using the Mann-Whitney U-test.