الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 114 |  |  |
| | | from | 114 | | |
Abstract
The etiological diagnosis of pleural effusion is frequently a problem in
clinical practice, especially in the differentiation between malignant and benign
pleural effusions, due to the significant difference in the treatment and prognosis
involved. The majority of neoplasms can cause pleural effusion during their
progression.
In an attempt to improve the identification of malignant cases, various studies
have reported the usefulness of biological tumor markers .These tumor markers are
macromolecules produced by neoplastic cells or whose production is increased in
the presence of neoplasia .These markers can be detected in various biological
specimens such as blood, serous fluids, and tissue samples .The markers present
different sensitivity and specificity according to the histological type of the
primary tumor.
This study aimed to assess the value of Dikkopf-1concentrations in both
serum and pleural fluid in the differentiation between malignant and non malignant
pleural effusions.
The present study was carried out in the Chest department, Menoufia
University Hospital, on 47 patients diagnosed as pleural effusion. They were 22
males and 25 females, their ages ranged from 20 to 75 years. There were no
significant differences regarding sex and age between both groups.
Regarding the diagnosis of the studied group, 12 patients (50%) in group I
were suffering from mesothelioma, 6 patients (25%) had bronchogenic carcinoma
and 6 patients (25%) presented with metastasis. While, in group ІІ, 9 patients
(39.1%) were suffering from para-pneumonic effusions, 7 patients (30.4%) had
liver cirrhosis and 7 patients (30.4%) had tuberculous pleural effusion.