Abstract: Objective To investigate the value of color Doppler ultrasound in the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculous pleuritis (TBP) which progressed to the different periods, to further improve the diagnosis of tuberculous pleuritis.  Methods A total of 165 patients who received thoracoscope or operation in the Xi’an Tuberculosis and Thoracic Tumor Hospital from February 2009 to April 2013 were involved in this study. Ultrasound was performed in all recruited patients before they received thoracoscope or operation. The pathologic result obtained through operation or thoracoscope was regarded as the standard. The results of ultrasound were compared with the pathologic results and the consistency of the classifications were analyzed by Kappa using SPSS 19.0.  Results  Among 165 patients with TBP, by using color Doppler ultrasound examination, 18 cases were diagnosed as type Ⅰ (13 cases were diagnosed as the same classifications by thoracoscope or operation), 28 cases were type Ⅱ (all of them were diagnosed as the same classifications by thoracoscope or operation), 43 cases were type Ⅲ (all of them were diagnosed as the same classifications by thoracoscope or operation) and 76 cases were type Ⅳ (75 cases were diagnosed as the same classifications by thoracoscope or operation). So the consistency rate of the classifications by using color Doppler ultrasound was 96.4% (159/165) and the Kappa value was 0.946, which meant the consistency was good. Conclusion Color Doppler ultrasound is a convenient and rapid examination method. It is valuable in clinical classification and treatment guidance for the patients with TBP.

Key words: Tuberculosis, pleural/ultrasonography, Pleura, Uitrasonography, doppler, color