Sayed Agha Ali Shah, Zaffar Iqbal, Muhammad Ashraf Qamar, Muhammad Farooq Khattak.
Diagnostic value of Abrams punch pleural biopsy in exudative pleural effusion.
J Med Sci Jan ;19(2):86-8.

Objectives: To evaluate the role of Abrams punch pleural biopsy in exudative pleural effusion. Material and Methods: The study was performed at the departments of Pulmonology and Pathology Rehman Medical Institute (RMI), Peshawar over a period of two years from July 2008 to June 2010. A total of 77 patients were evaluated with Abrams punch pleural biopsy. Three to five pleural biopsy fragments were taken from each case and sent for histopathological examination. Results: Out of 77 patients, histopathology examination revealed granulomatous inflammation in 31 (40.25%), malignancy in 23 (28.87%), empyema in 1 (1.29%), chronic non-specific inflammation in 14 (18.18%) and inadequate in 8 (10.38%) patients. Procedure was well-tolerated and minimal complications were observed. Conclusion: Abrams pleural biopsy is a simple, efficient and safe procedure which is histologically diagnostic in 71.42% of the exudative pleural effusion.

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