The Light Criteria: The Beginning and Why they are Useful 40 Years Later.
Clin Chest Med. 2013 Mar;34(1):21-6
Authors: Light RW
Abstract
The Light criteria serve as a good starting point in the separation of transudates from exudates. The Light criteria misclassify about 25% of transudates as exudates, and most of these patients are on diuretics. If a patient is thought likely to have a disease that produces a transudative pleural effusion but the Light criteria suggest an exudate by only a small margin, the serum-pleural fluid protein gradient should be examined.
PMID: 23411053 [PubMed - in process]