Diagnostic thoracoscopy.

During a 5-year period, diagnostic thoracoscopy was attempted in 566 patients and successfully performed in 556. No deaths due to thoracoscopy occurred and complications were few. In patients with malignant disease of the pleura, positive biopsies were obtained in 95 of 137 patients (69%). A positive culture for tubercle bacilli was obtained from pleural biopsy in 27 of 36 patients (75%) with bacteriologically confirmed pleural tuberculosis. Thoracoscopy improved the diagnostic accuracy in these conditions. In patients with benign tumours as well as anatomical abnormalities thoracoscopy was diagnostic. In other conditions thoracoscopy was rarely able to give a positive diagnosis, but it proved very helpful in ruling out malignant disease and tuberculosis. The number of false positive was small, about 3% in this series.