Pleural effusion
Most of the children benefited from an evacuation of the pleural effusion (89/97, 91.8%): 21 patients (21.6%) were treated with needle thoracocentesis only, while a chest tube was inserted in 68 children (70.1%) (Table 2). Chest tube insertion and intrapleural fibrinolysis occurred less frequently in children about to receive corticosteroids (chest tube 61.8% versus 81.0%, p=0.041; intrapleural fibrinolysis 25.5% versus 42.9%, p=0.07). The duration of chest drainage did not differ between children with and without corticosteroids (median (IQR) 5 (3-8.25) versus 5 (3-6), p=0.184). The total volume evacuated through the chest tube tended to be higher for children without corticosteroids (median (IQR) 480 (300-805) mL versus 390 (137-579) mL), this discrepancy almost reaching the statistical significance threshold (p=0.07).
Biochemical analyses of the pleural effusion were inconstant and their results did not differ between children about to receive corticosteroids or not: proteins were measured in 79/89 samples (88.8%) (median (IQR) 45 (39.8-48.7) g/L for the whole cohort), LDH in 64 (71.9%) (median (IQR) 3124 (879-9367)U/L), glucose in 57 (64%) (median (IQR) 0.22 (0.01-0.67)g/L), amylase in 15 (16.9%) and pH in only 8 samples (9%). Cytology was more frequently analyzed: the leucocyte and the red blood cell counts were requested in 78 (87.6%) and in 73 (82%) samples respectively and they did not differ between children with and without corticosteroids (median (IQR) 5200 (1000-17800) red blood cells /mm3 and 6800 (1500-21100) white blood cells /mm3 for the whole cohort).