Is neuron-specific enolase useful for diagnosing malignant pleural effusions? evidence from a validation study and meta-analysis

Table 1 The demographics characteristics and biochemical results of patients

	Benign pleural effusion	Malignant pleural effusion	p value
No. of Patient	102	136
Sex(male/female)	68/34	74/62	0.056
Age (years)	56 ± 19	58 ± 13	0.167
Pleural NSE (ng/ml)	6.41 ± 6.95	18.53 ± 27.30	<0.001
Pleural NSE (ng/mg of pleural protein)	0.15 ± 0.16	0.51 ± 0.88	<0.001
Pleural protein(g/l)	42.02 ± 13.04	41.84 ± 10.62	0.906
Pleural glucose (mmol/l)	5.84 ± 1.71	5.48 ± 2.51	0.216
Pleural LDH (U/l)	256.57 ± 181.22	502.99 ± 414.15	<0.001
Pleural LDH (U/g of pleural protein)	5.79 ± 3.95	13.68 ± 14.96	<0.001
Serum NSE (ng/ml)	13.77 ± 13.33	19.51 ± 16.54	0.004
Serum NSE (ng/mg of pleural protein)	0.39 ± 0.63	0.54 ± 0.61	0.067
Pleural/serum NSE ratio	0.56 ± 0.55	1.08 ± 1.54	0.001

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