Pleural fluid biochemical analyses: a state-of-the-art review.

Pleural fluid biochemical analyses are of great value in verifying the etiology of undiagnosed pleural effusions. The preanalytical phase of pleural fluid biochemical analyses refers to the potential errors associated with specimen collection procedures, transportation, and sample stability. The analytical phase refers to the matrix effects and interference. The post-analytical phase refers to the clinical interpretation of the biochemical analyses. This review summarizes the preanalytical, analytical, and postanalytical phases of pleural fluid biochemical analyses. Evidence regarding potential preanalytical errors (e.g. stability, interference, and effects of anticoagulants on biomarker results) was summarized. In addition, we compiled evidence on the clinical interpretation of pleural fluid biomarkers, particularly from systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Finally, we discuss the future directions of biochemical analyses of pleural fluid.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  Critical reviews in clinical laboratory sciences

• Publication date

  2025-11-10

• Fields of study

  Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1080/10408363.2025.2577984PMID 41215493
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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