[Value of the assay of pleural carcinoembryonic antigen for the diagnosis of neoplastic pleurisy. Correlation with plasma levels and anatomopathological results].

The authors specify the contribution of pleural carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) assay in the diagnosis of malignant pleuritis by comparing it to plasma concentrations and pathologic findings. 45 patients with pleuritis were studied. Etiology was malignant in 15 and non-malignant in 27. Analysis of results shows that a pleural CEA concentration above 5 ng/ml is very suggestive of malignancy. Determination of the pleural CEA/plasmatic CEA ratio provides no additional information compared to pleural CEA assay alone.