Clin Lab
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Detection of carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA) in pleural effusion has good clinical application value in differentiating benign and malignant pleural effusion, but sometimes CEA provides limited help. We report a case of a patient with left lung neoplasms combined with bilateral pleural effusion with increased CEA in the pleural effusion whose thoracoscopy pleural biopsy pathology was negative, mimicking lung carcinoma and ultimately confirmed as pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma by CT-guided percutaneous lung biopsy. ⋯ Elevated pleural effusion CEA is not a specific index of lung cancer. CT-guided percutaneous lung biopsy is appropriate for patients presenting with pleural diseases with lung neoplasms, especially when thoracoscopy pleural biopsy result was negative.