Predicting survival in patients with malignant pleural effusion and validating LENT prognostic score

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the present study is to obtain data of patients surviving with malignant pleural effusion, to clarify the prognostic indicators, and to validate LENT prognostic scoring systems. Materials and Methods: The present study is a retrospective descriptive design. All medical records of patients diagnosed with malignant pleural effusion at HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Medical Center between May 1, 2011, and August 31, 2015 were reviewed. The study included patients with age of 18 years old and above. Their follow-up durations were at least six months, and the complete records of prognostic indicators were available. Results: Thirty-five patient records were selected. All subjects were stratified into low-risk (score 0 to 1), moderate-risk (score 2 to 4), and high-risk (score 5 to 7) group according to LENT score. Only 30% of patients with high-risk LENT score survived for 1 month from the diagnosis. Nobody survived for 6 months. The analysis of the area under the ROC curve revealed that LENT prognostic scoring system was more reliable than ECOG performance score (PS) in the survival prediction (0.837 vs. 0.827). The sensitivity and specificity of LENT score were 100% and 6%, whereas the values of ECOG PS were 63% and 100% respectively. Conclusion: LENT prognostic score is a useful prognostic scoring system in malignant pleural effusion for the survival prediction. © JOURNAL OF THE MEDICAL ASSOCIATION OF THAILAND| 2019.