Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Respiratory Medicine, cilt.252, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Background and purpose: Thoracic ultrasonography (TUS) enhances the success of thoracentesis and reduces complications.Ultrasound elastography is a sensitive imaging technique for the assessment of tissue stiffness. This study evaluates the role of ultrasonographic imaging and elastography, in conjunction with clinical and pleural fluid laboratory parameters, to differentiate malignant from benign, and transudative from exudative pleural effusions. Materials and methods: A total of 95 patients with pleural effusions and 26 control patients were included. All patients underwent B-mode ultrasonography, color intensity analysis in elastography mode, and strain index calculation. Results: Exudative fluid was detected in 62.1 % of patients, while transudative fluid was found in 37.9 %. Pleural nodules were identified in 83.3 % of those with malignant effusions and 3.6 % in benign cases, with a significant difference (p < 0.001). Pleural thickness was greater in the malignant than benign group, and in the exudative compared to the transudative group (p < 0.001). A pleural thickness cutoff of 1.35 mm demonstrated high sensitivity (93 %) and specificity (86 %) for differentiating exudative fluids. However, no significant differences were found in elastogram color distribution or strain index between the malignant and benign, or transudative and exudative groups. The median strain index was significantly higher in the patient group (15.0) than in the control group (0.95)(p < 0.001). Conclusion: The findings of the present study suggest that TUS can offer significant assistance to clinicians in diagnosing pleural effusion and differentiating malignant from benign, as well as transudative from exudative effusions. More comprehensive studies in the future will further clarify the definitive role of elastogram color distribution and strain index in these differentiations.