Thursday December 17, 2009


Q: Lab call you with result that patient's pleural fluid has cholesterol level more than 45 mg/dL (1.16 mmol/L). What does it mean?


A; Pleural fluid is probably an exudate.

Using a cutoff point of 45 mg/dL for pleural cholesterol and/or LDH over 200 IU/L identified exudates with a sensitivity of 99% and a specificity of 98%.


Measurement of Pleural Fluid Cholesterol and Lactate Dehydrogenase - A Simple and Accurate Set of Indicators for Separating Exudates From Transudates - CHEST November 1995 vol. 108, no. 5 1260-1263