Table 1 Comparison of pleural effusion with ADA > 40 IU/L

Age, years

63 (53–71)

58 (39–73)

55 (36–66)

< 0.001^a,c

Male

316 (81)

243 (65)

57 (67)

< 0.001^a,c

Pleural effusion

 PMN (%)

85 (73–92)

6 (2–17)

3 (1–12)

< 0.001^a,b,c

 Lymphocytes (%)

4 (1–9)

71 (50–84)

21 (10–48)

< 0.001^a,b,c

 Eosinophils (%)

0 (0–0)

0 (0–0)

0 (0–0)

< 0.001^a

 Others (%)

9 (5–18)

17 (10–27)

69 (35–87)

< 0.001^a,b,c

 pH

7.3 (7.2–7.4)

7.3 (7.3–7.4)

7.4 (7.3–7.4)

< 0.001^a,c

 Glucose (mg/dL)

20 (3–89)

95 (74–118)

93 (47–115)

< 0.001^a,c

 Protein (g/dL)

3.9 (3.0–4.8)

5.0 (4.5–5.3)

3.6 (2.9–4.6)

< 0.001^a,b

 LD (IU/L)

3421 (1878–8035)

671 (447–1023)

1803 (1037–3519)

< 0.001^a,b,c

 ADA (IU/L)

67 (48–121)

84 (65–105)

76 (53–171)

< 0.001^a

 LD/ADA

53.0 (32.4–76.7)

7.9 (5.6–11.4)

17.8 (11.0–29.1)

< 0.001^a,b,c

Whole blood

 WBC (×10³/µL)

12.4 (9.0–16.3)

6.1 (5.1–7.7)

6.8 (2.9–9.9)

< 0.001^a,c

 Segmented neutrophils (%)

82 (76–87)

68 (62–74)

71 (53–81)

< 0.001^a,c

 Platelets (×10³/µL)

265 (152–363)

282 (227–347)

139 (61–265)

< 0.001^a,b,c

 Protein (g/dL)

5.9 (5.3–6.6)

6.8 (6.2–7.2)

5.6 (4.9–6.5)

< 0.001^a,b

 LD (IU/L)

488 (392–702)

462 (391–546)

1114 (612–1672)

< 0.001^a,b,c

Comorbidities

 Solid cancer

140 (36)

50 (13)

2 (2)

< 0.001^a,b,c

 Diabetes mellitus

104 (27)

57 (15)

13 (15)

< 0.001^a

 History of tuberculosis

37 (10)

37 (10)

7 (8)

0.898

 Hematologic malignancy

16 (4)

15 (4)

52 (61)^d

< 0.001^b,c

 Heart failure

21 (5)

7 (2)

3 (4)

0.034^a

 Liver cirrhosis

22 (6)

15 (4)

1 (1)

0.163

 Renal replacement therapy

16 (4)

6 (2)

1 (1)

0.067

 Connective tissue disease

10 (3)

11 (3)

0 (0)

0.287

 Transplantation

10 (3)

13 (3)

1 (1)

0.474