Appearance of tuberculous pleurisy under flexible electronic thoracoscopy

Objective To improve the cognition of the characters of tuberculous pleurisy through observing its appearance under flexible electronic thoracoscopy.Methods One hundred and thirty-two patients with pleural effusion as the major manifestation and finally diagnosed as tuberculous pleurisy were retrospectively studied,and the appearance under thoracoscopy were summarized.Results The appearance of 132 cases with tuberculous pleurisy under thoracoscopy were summarized as 3 major types:hyperemia and edema of pleura and diffused miliary nodules;single or multiple nodules(1～3 cm in diameter);pachynsis pleurae,or fibrous adhesion of the pleura, or the formation of multiple encapsulated effusion.Conclusions The performance of 132 cases with tuberculous pleurisy under thoracoscopy were mainly showed as nodules,accounted for 91.7%,and the nodules are expressed as diffuse distribution or mainly distributed in the parietal pleura.