LYMPHOCYTE-T AND LYMPHOCYTE-B ENUMERATION IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF LYMPHOCYTE-RICH PLEURAL FLUIDS

  • 1 January 1981
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 25  (2) , 108-110
Abstract
The presence of a monotonous population of small lymphocytes in effusions may be due to chronic lymphatic leukemia (CLL), malignant lymphoma of the small cell type (SLML) or a chronic inflammatory process, such as tuberculosis. The enumeration of T and B lymphocytes in such fluids may provide a reliable means of distinguishing between malignant and nonmalignant effusions. The mean percentage of T lymphocytes in the pleural effusions of 10 patients with nonmalignant disease was 80.2; the mean percentage of B lymphocytes was 7.4. B cells predominated (mean, 83.3%) in the pleural effusions of patients with lymphoma or leukemia. Since the great majority of chronic lymphocytic lymphomas and leukemias are of B cell origin, effusions containing a large predominance of B cells apparently have a high probability of being malignant. Those that contain a predominance of T cells are almost always benign, although the rare occurrence of chronic lymphocytic lymphomas and leukemias of T cell origin should be considered.

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