[Pleural puncture biopsy--a diagnostic method in tuberculous serofibrinous pleurisy in children]

The biopsy of the parietal pleura with a special needle has become an essential diagnosis method in the adult patients with pleural disease of unknown etiology, and might become a complementary paraclinical method for children also. The certitude diagnosis in tuberculous serous fibrinous pleurisy of the child is laid on evidencing Koch's bacillus at the direct examination or in culture, and on fragments of pleural biopsy puncture, in evidencing the lesions. The study is based on the results obtained in the pleural biopsy puncture made on 6 children. The histologic examination of the pleural fragment showed, in 4 cases of 6, the presence of tuberculous lymphoepithelioid nodules, with central caseous necrosis thus granting certitude to the diagnosis. The pleural biopsy puncture permits an early and certain diagnosis in more than 2/3 of the pleurisies of tuberculous etiology.