Diagnostic Value of Pleural Fluid Ferritin Level

We measured ferritin levels in serum and pleural fluids of 89 patients hospitalized with pleural effusion and 15 healthy individuals choosen as control group, at the Chest Diseases Department of Selçuk University Medical Faculty. The patients divided into four groups in respect re their final diagnosis; 1) Tuberculosis (n= 24), 2) Malignancies (n= 27), 3) Pneumonia (n= 28) and 4) Congestive hearth failure (n= 10). In ali patients groups, mean serum ferritin concentrations vere increased compared to the control group. However, there was not any significant differences between serum ferritin levels of patient groups. Pleural fluid ferritin level in each patient group was much higher than their serum ferritin contents. We could not alsa found any statistically significant dillerences between pleural fluid levels of the patient groups. Our study indicates that pleural fluid ferritin me-asurement in pleural effusions has not got any diagnostic value.