Thoracoscopy in the diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma.

Among 325 patients (95 women and 230 men) admitted to hospital for pleural effusion, 28 cases of malignant mesothelioma were found. In 22 of the 28 patients thoracoscopy was used to determine the course of the effusions. Thoracoscopy revealed the correct diagnosis in 19 of the 22 patients and thus gave far better results than cytological examination or hyaluronic acid determination on the pleural fluid.