The aid of some cytochemical methods in pleural effusion diagnosis

Some cytochemical reactions were performed in order to complete the diagnosis possibilities of pleural effusions from patients with neoplasia and with other diseases. Qualitative reactions were performed on the smears for alkaline phosphatase (samples from 46 patients) for nonspecific esterases (samples from 30 patients), for acid and neutral mucopolysaccharides (samples from 35 patients) and for nucleic acids (samples from 85 patients). On the presented material the presence of alkaline phosphatase could be considered as a malignancy criterium. The activity of nonspecific esterases in the overwhelming majority of the cases cannot represent an aid in distinguishing neoplastic cells. Acid and neutral mucopolysaccarides do not generally constitute a neoplastic criterium, but a helping element in the diagnosis of some mesotheliomas. The evidencing of nucleic acids is very important for the demonstration of nucleoli which are considered as a principal criterium in malignancy.