[Day tuberculous exudative pleurisy: morphological and morphometric aspects]

Area of Science:

• Pulmonology
• Pathology
• Infectious Diseases

Background:

• Tuberculous pleurisy is a significant cause of pleural inflammation.
• Understanding the pathomorphological changes in the pleura is crucial for effective treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate visceral pleural pathomorphological changes in patients with tuberculous pleurisy.
• To compare these changes between isolated tuberculous pleurisy and tuberculous pleurisy with concurrent lung involvement.

Main Methods:

• Histopathological examination of visceral pleural tissue from 50 patients.
• Classification of patients into groups: isolated tuberculous pleurisy, tuberculous pleurisy with lung involvement, and a comparison group.
• Measurement of pleural thickness and assessment of inflammation type.

Main Results:

• Exudative productive inflammation was the prevalent type in both tuberculous pleurisy groups.
• Significantly increased visceral pleural thickness was observed in both tuberculous pleurisy groups compared to the comparison group (p < 0.01).
• Visceral pleural fibrosing was evident early in exudative pleurisy, with a trend towards greater severity in patients with concurrent lung involvement.

Conclusions:

• Exudative tuberculous pleurisy is associated with early visceral pleural fibrosing.
• The findings raise questions about the necessity of early resolution therapy, lymphotropic isoniazid administration, and physical methods to prevent pleural obliteration.