Activité adénosine désaminase pleurale : un outil de choix pour le diagnostic des pleurésies tuberculeuses dans les pays à haute prévalence

Tuberculous pleurisy (TP) is one of the most common aetiologies of lymphocytic predominant pleural effusion in tuberculous endemic areas. Its definitive diagnosis depends on isolation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the pleural effusion or pleural tissue, but mycobacterial culture requires weeks to obtain the results and exhibits poor performances. Also various biomarkers, including pleural adenosine deaminase activity (ADA), have been proposed to assist the diagnosis of TP. Many studies have investigated the usefulness of this biomarker for the early diagnosis of TP. Measurement of ADA in pleural effusion is thus likely to be a useful diagnosis tool for TP.