[T lymphocytes in the circulating blood and pleural fluid of patients with tuberculosis or cancer].

Inflammatory pleurisies in the adult are particularly rich in CD4 lymphocytes, capable of inducing and facilitating the immune reaction. The aim of this study was to determine the percentage of CD4 and CD8 lymphocytes in pleural fluid and blood in 13 patients with tuberculous pleurisy and 12 patients with pleural neoplasms, to establish the diagnostic value of this analysis. Independent of the etiology of the effusion there is a concentration of CD4 T lymphocytes in the pleural fluid compared to the blood (49.52 +/- 12.36% and 39.28 +/- 6.74%, respectively, p value less than 0.001). However, there was a similar concentration for the two types of disorders studied with 59.92 +/- 7.26% for tuberculous pleurisies and 45.83 +/- 6.26% for neoplastic effusions, thus this technique does not make the diagnostic orientation any clearer.