Medical thoracoscopy for tuberculous pleurisy: A retrospective analysis of 575 cases

Single-centre observational study of the safety and efficacy of thoracoscopy under local anaesthesia for the management of thoracic infections

OBJECTIVES

Thoracoscopy under local anaesthesia is widely performed to diagnose malignancies and infectious diseases. However, few reports have described the use of this procedure for diagnosing and treating intrathoracic infections. This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of thoracoscopy under local anaesthesia for the management of intrathoracic infections.

RESULTS

Data from patients who underwent thoracoscopy procedures performed by chest physicians under local anaesthesia at our hospital between January 2018 and December 2023 were retrospectively reviewed. We analysed their demographic factors, reasons for the examinations, diseases targeted, examination lengths, anaesthetic methods used, diagnostic and treatment success rates, as well as any adverse events. Thirty patients were included. Of these, 12 (40%) had thoracoscopies to diagnose infections, and 18 (60%) had them to treat pyothorax. In terms of diagnosing pleurisy, the causative microorganism of origin was identified via thoracoscopy in only three of 12 (25.0%) patients. For diagnosing pyothorax, the causative microorganism was identified in 7 of 18 (38.9%) patients. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was the most common causative microorganism identified. The treatment success rates were very high, ranging between 94.4 and 100%, whereas the identification rate of the causative microorganisms behind infections was low, ranging between 25.0 and 38.9%. The most frequent adverse events included perioperative hypoxaemia and pain. There were two (6.7%) serious adverse events of grade ≥ 3, but none resulted in death.

CONCLUSIONS

The efficacy of managing intrathoracic infections through thoracoscopy under local anaesthesia is commendable. Nonetheless, the diagnostic accuracy of the procedure, regarding the precise identification of the causative microorganisms responsible for intrathoracic infections, persists at a notably low level, presenting a substantial clinical hurdle.

Acute Presentation of Tuberculosis Empyema in a Healthy Adolescent

BACKGROUND Tuberculosis (TB) was the leading cause of infectious death worldwide until the COVID-19 pandemic, which reduced case reporting and disrupted TB diagnosis and services. While Mycobacterium tuberculosis remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally, the disease burden within developed nations remains relatively rare. Although the many complications of TB are well known, no current data exists on those infected with TB who subsequently developed recurrent TB empyema, as it is such a rare complication, especially in pediatric and adolescent populations. CASE REPORT A previously healthy 15-year-old male patient presented with 5-day duration of cough, congestion, intermittent fever, and post-tussive emesis. Although born in the United States, 3 months before presentation, he returned from Senegal, where he had lived for 4 years. Imaging demonstrated consolidation with loculated effusion. Patient underwent video-assisted thoracoscopy and chest tube placement, draining 750 mL of purulent fluid testing positive for rare acid-fast bacilli. Rifampin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol were administered, with discharge medication compliance ensured by daily videos surveillance through the Department of Health. Although compliant with medications, patient presented to the Emergency Department 2 months later with a multi-loculated fluid recollection and fistula formation requiring chest tube placement. After this discharge, patient experienced resolution of disease following completion of therapy. CONCLUSIONS TB complication should be considered as a differential diagnosis for pleural effusion in the appropriate clinical setting. Providers should not only consider the diagnosis but pursue appropriate testing and management early, particularly in those with risk factors, including travel to an endemic location.

Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra enhanced tuberculous pleurisy diagnosis for patients with unexplained exudative pleural effusion who underwent a pleural biopsy via thoracoscopy: A prospective cohort study

INTRODUCTION

To evaluate the performance of Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra (Xpert-Ultra) in testing pleural tissue and fluid collected by medical thoracoscopy among patients with unexplained exudative pleural effusion.

METHODS

Patients with an undiagnosed exudative pleural effusion were prospectively and consecutively recruited. Pleural tissue and fluid were collected by medical thoracoscopy and subjected to culture, Xpert MTB/RIF (Xpert) and Xpert-Ultra assays. Histopathological examination was also performed with the tissue and used as the major reference.

RESULTS

Sixty-one patients were enrolled, including: 27 tuberculosis (TB) pleurisy, 15 malignancy and 19 other chronic infection cases. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of Xpert-Ultra for TB diagnosis were 85.19% (23/27), 97.06% (33/34), 95.83% (23/24), and 89.19% (33/37), respectively. Xpert-Ultra testing with the biopsy tissue alone had an equivalent diagnostic capacity to that of pathological examination for the diagnosis of confirmed TB cases. By combining the pathological examination with Xpert-Ultra for biopsy, the percentage of confirmed TB cases greatly increased (i.e. 92.59% (25/27)). The "trace" positive outcome of Xpert-Ultra was highly supportive of TB diagnosis for both biopsy tissue and pleural fluid examinations.

CONCLUSION

With the specimens collected by medical thoracoscopy, the Xpert-Ultra assay presented high value in identifying TB among pleurisy patients who had difficulties in etiological diagnosis.

Use of T-SPOT.TB for the diagnosis of unconventional pleural tuberculosis is superior to ADA in high prevalence areas: a prospective analysis of 601 cases

BACKGROUND

Tuberculous pleural effusion (TPE) is the most common extrapulmonary manifestation and may have lasting effect on lung function. However conventional diagnostic tests for TPE register multiple limitations. This study estimates diagnostic efficacy of the interferon gamma release assay (IGRA: T-SPOT.TB) in TPE patients of different characteristics.

METHODS

We performed a prospective, single-centre study including all suspected pleural effusion patients consecutively enrolled from June 2015 to October 2018. Through receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, technical cut-offs and the utility of T-SPOT on pleural fluid (PF) were determined and analysed. Logistic regression analysis was performed to obtain the independent risk factors for TPE, and evaluated the performance of the T-SPOT assay stratified by risk factors in comparison to ADA.

RESULTS

A total of 601 individuals were consecutively recruited. The maximum spot-forming cells (SFCs) of early secretory antigenic target-6 (ESAT-6) and culture filtrate protein-10 (CFP-10) in the PF T-SPOT assay had the best diagnostic efficiency in our study, which was equal to ADA (0.885 vs 0.887, P = 0.957) and superior to peripheral blood (PB), with a sensitivity of 83.0% and a specificity of 83.1% (The cut-off value was 466 SFCs/10⁶ mononuclear cells). Among the TPE patients with low ADA (< 40 IU/L), the sensitivity and specificity of PF T-SPOT were still 87.9 and 90.5%, respectively. The utility of ADA was negatively related to increasing age, but the PF T-SPOT test had a steady performance at all ages. Age (< 45 yrs.; odds ratio (OR) = 5.61, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.59-8.78; P < 0.001), gender (male; OR = 2.68, 95% CI 1.75-2.88; P < 0.001) and body mass index (BMI) (< 22; OR = 1.93, 95% CI 1.30-2.88; P = 0.001) were independently associated with the risk of TB by multivariate logistic regression analysis. Notably, when stratified by risk factor, the sensitivity of PF T-SPOT was superior to the sensitivity for ADA (76.5% vs. 23.5%, P = 0.016) and had noninferior specificity (84.4% vs. 96.9%, P = 0.370).

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, the PF T-SPOT assay can effectively discriminate TPE patients whose ADA is lower than 40 IU/L and is superior to ADA in unconventional TPE patients (age ≥ 45 yrs., female or BMI ≥ 22). The PF T-SPOT assay is an excellent choice to supplement ADA to diagnose TPE.

Yield of pleural biopsy in different types of tubercular effusions

INTRODUCTION

The yield of mycobacteria is shown to be very low in pleural effusions as it is a pauci-bacillary disease. The present study looked at the yield of mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) in terms of GeneXpert for acid fast bacilli (AFB) and culture using a medical thoracoscopy guided biopsy and analysed whether the yield increases in more complicated effusions.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This is a retrospective analysis of patients who underwent medical thoracoscopy for tubercular pleural effusions at our institute over the last 5-years. Patients who had no or minimal thin septations were considered as simple effusions and were subjected to semi-rigid thoracoscopy (n = 61). While patients who had multiple loculations and thick septations were considered as complicated effusions and were subjected to rigid thoracoscopy (n = 64). We considered granuloma on a biopsy as the standard for diagnosis of Tuberculosis (TB). Xpert MTB/RIF and The BACTEC MGIT was used for culture.

RESULTS

Out 125 patients with granulomatous inflammation on biopsy, 56 (44.8%) were positive for either GeneXpert or culture for MTB. Only GeneXpert was positive in 43 and only culture was positive in 13. Amongst 61 patients with simple effusion, 14 had either GeneXpert for AFB or AFB culture being positive and 9 out of these patients had GeneXpert for MTB detected on biopsy sample. Only culture was positive in 5 patients. In complicated pleural effusion group either GeneXpert or culture for mycobacterium was positive in 42 (65.6%) out of 64 patients. Only GeneXpert was positive in 34 and culture alone was positive in 8 patients.

CONCLUSION

The yield of MTB increases as the pleural effusion becomes more complicated. GeneXpert in a biopsy sample is a useful marker for MTB yield especially in a complicated effusion.

Efficacy and safety of semi-flexible thoracoscopic cryobiopsy in the diagnosis of elderly tuberculous pleurisy

Background

Thoracoscopic pleural biopsy is an efficient procedure in patients with undiagnosed exudative pleurisy. Rigid or flexible forceps have been widely used for this procedure. Recently, the use of cryo-techniques was reported in pleural biopsy during semi-rigid thoracoscopy; however, the feasibility and safety of pleural cryobiopsy in elderly patients have not yet been fully elucidated.

Case reports

We describe two elderly patients who safely underwent semi-rigid thoracoscopic cryobiopsy and were diagnosed with tuberculous pleurisy. Both were >85 years of age, and chest auscultation revealed reduced breath sounds in the right lower zones. Laboratory investigations revealed an elevated level of C-reactive protein without leukocytosis in both patients. Computed tomography scan of the chest revealed right pleural effusion in both patients. Pleural fluid biochemical analysis results were indicative of an exudate. Sputum cultures demonstrated no bacterial growth and smears were negative for the presence of acid-fast bacilli. For definitive diagnosis, pleural biopsy was performed via thoracoscopic cryobiopsy. Specimens obtained from the cryoprobe demonstrated 200-300-μm caseating and non-caseating epitheloid cell granulomas with Langerhans type giant cells. Based on the above results, both patients were diagnosed with TB pleurisy. Anti-tuberculosis treatment resulted in good clinical outcome in both patients.

Conclusion

Cryobiopsy is easier and more efficient than biopsy with conventional forceps. Our findings in these patients suggest that semi-rigid thoracoscopic cryobiopsy might be a useful alternative diagnostic method for undiagnosed pleural effusion in elderly patients.