Cholesterol: A Useful Parameter for Distinguishing between Pleural Exudates and Transudates

Previously established criteria were used to classify 253 pleural effusions as transudates (65 cases), neoplastic exudates (67 cases), tuberculous exudates (65 cases), or miscellaneous exudates (56 cases). The parameters pleural LDH (PLDH), pleural LDH/serum LDH ratio (P/SLDH), and pleural protein/serum protein ratio (P/SPROT) were compared with pleural cholesterol (PCHOL) and the pleural cholesterol/serum cholesterol ratio (P/SCHOL) with regard to their usefulness for distinguishing between pleural exudates and transudates. The PCHOL values determined were 28.5 ± 12.8 mg/dl for transudates, 88.1 ± 30 mg/dl for neoplastic exudates, 96.5 ± 28 mg/dl for tuberculous exudates, and 88 ± 35.9 mg/dl for the miscellaneous group; the differences between the transudate group and the others are statistically significant (p