Role of medical thoracoscopy in the diagnosis of pleural effusions.

BACKGROUND: Medical thoracoscopy (semi-rigid and rigid thoracoscopy) have revolutionized the management of undiagnosed pleural effusions. Though semi-rigid thoracoscopy has a good diagnostic yield in malignant and tubercular effusions, its role in the management of a complicated pleural effusions is debatable. Hence, rigid thoracoscopy becomes handy in these cases. The present study looked into the role of medical thoracoscopy in the diagnosis of pleural effusions in different conditions. METHODS: This study included all patients who underwent medical thoracoscopy at our center between May-2010 and March-2020. Basic demographics data, type of medical thoracoscopy used, and histopathology details were collected and analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 373 patients were subjected to medical thoracoscopy (202 semi-rigid thoracoscopy and 171 rigid thoracoscopy). Out of whom 246 (66%) were males, the mean age was 51.9 ± 13.2 years. Diagnosis was achieved in 370 patients with a yield of 99.2%. The diagnostic yield in semi-rigid thoracoscopy was 99.5% with lung malignancy being the most common diagnosis (41%; n = 81), followed by tuberculosis (31%; n = 61). The diagnostic yield in rigid thoracoscopy was 100% in our study. Along with high diagnostic yield, complete drainage and lung expansion was seen in 93.5% (160 out of 171 patients) without requiring a second procedure. CONCLUSIONS: Semi-rigid thoracoscopy and rigid thoracoscopy should complement each other in the diagnosis of pleural effusions. Rigid thoracoscopy should be considered as the procedure of choice in a complicated pleural effusion.

Investigation on characterization, antifouling and cytotoxic properties of zinc oxide nanoparticles biosynthesized by a mangrove-associated actinobacterium Streptomyces olivaceus (MSU3).

The present study was undertaken to biosynthesize zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) using a mangrove-associated actinobacterium Streptomyces olivaceus (MSU3) under in vitro conditions. The synthesized ZnONPs were structurally characterized through UV, FT-IR, TG-DTA, XRD, SEM and EDX analysis. Analysis of biosynthesized ZnONPs in UV-Vis spectroscopy showed presence of functional groups between the wavelengths 325 and 380 nm. FT-IR analysis showed the functional groups, such as halo bromide (C-Br), alkyne (C≡C), carboxylic acid (O-H), nitro (N-O), fluoro (C-F), alkene (C=C) and aromatic (R-C-H) groups, respectively, within the wave numbers between 614.30 and 3074.41 cm-1. The crystalline poly-dispersed quasi spherical nature of ZnONPs expressed the average particle size of 37.9 nm with the 2θ values of 11.802-37.885°. Antibacterial activity of ZnONPs showed pronounced inhibitory zone (25 mm) and least MIC and MBC values (125 and 250 µg ml-1) against Escherchia sp. In the antifouling study, ZnONPs strongly inhibited byssal thread formation in mussel Perna indica and recorded LC50 value of 424.47 µg ml-1. Mollusc foot adherence assay inferred that the ZnONPs effectively inhibited settlement of limpet Patella vulgata and showed minimal fouling (26.43%) at 350 µg ml-1 and recorded LC50 value of 218.77 µg ml-1. Results of anticrustacean assay depicted that, ZnONPs had registered LC50 value of 676.08 µg ml-1 against Artemia salina nauplii. From this study, it could be concluded that an eco-friendly approach could be used to open a new avenue for biosynthesis of ZnONPs from a mangrove associated actinobacterium S. olivaceus (MSU3) in antifouling studies.