[Significance of radionuclide study in early diagnosis of chronic pleural empyemas]

Forty-five patients aged 17 to 70 years with exudative pleurisy were examined. Among them there were 31 patients with exudative pleurisy of tuberculous etiology, 7 with parapneumonic pleurisy and 7 with malignant pleurisy. In addition to clinical and X-ray examination, all the patients were studied for the functional status of the parietal pleura by using the radionuclide technique. The study indicated that the peripheral blood levels of radio pharmaceuticals (RP) ranged in relation to the duration of the disease: 0.33%, 0.31, 0.29, and 0.26% with a duration of 1-3, 4-6, 7-9, and over 10 months, respectively. With the least changes in the parietal pleura, the peripheral blood content of RP was highest and in pleural cirrhosis it was the lowest. The study showed that 66% were diagnosed as having early pleural empyema and 13 underwent pleurectomy.