basic

Light's Criteria for Pleural Effusion Calculator

Exudate if any one of three protein/LDH ratios is met.

Apply Light's criteria to a pleural effusion: it is an exudate if any of (1) pleural protein / serum protein > 0.5, (2) pleural LDH / serum LDH > 0.6, or (3) pleural LDH > ⅔ × upper limit of normal serum LDH.

Priya Venkatesan By Priya Venkatesan
Published Last reviewed 1 min read

Inputs

g/dL
g/dL
U/L
U/L
U/L

Results

Enter values and click Calculate to see results.
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How to use this calculator

  1. Fill in the inputs above using the units you already have.
  2. Values update automatically as you type — no submit button needed.
  3. Hover any result row for the underlying formula and intermediate values.

Formula

Exudate if any criterion met (returns 1 = exudate, 0 = transudate).

In depth

Apply Light's criteria to a pleural effusion: it is an exudate if any of (1) pleural protein / serum protein > 0.5, (2) pleural LDH / serum LDH > 0.6, or (3) pleural LDH > ⅔ × upper limit of normal serum LDH.