Necrotizing fasciitis of chest wall complicating empyema thoracis

Chest Necrotizing Fasciitis with Mediastinitis

A 54-year-old woman with a history of psoriasis, which had been treated with methotrexate, and poorly-controlled diabetes (HbA1c 9.8 %) presented with anterior chest pain. She initially developed mild pain in the right upper-anterior chest. The patient was immediately referred to our hospital after the symptoms extended to the anterior chest wall and neck at 10 days after the onset of symptoms....

Empyema Thoracis

Epmyema thoracis is associated with high mortality ranging between 6% to 24%. The incidence of empyema is increasing in both children and adults; the cause of this surge is unknown. Most cases of empyema complicate community- or hospital-acquired pneumonia but a proportion results from iatrogenic causes or develops without pneumonia. Parapneumonic effusions (PPE) develop in about one half of th...

Necrotizing fasciitis following drainage of Streptococcus milleri empyema.

Streptococcus milleri (SM) is a heterogeneous group of Streptococci, which is a recognized cause of purulent infections of the mediastinal and pleural spaces. These infections are notoriously resistant and require aggressive surgical management. We present our experience with a 60-year-old patient, who developed necrotizing fasciitis of the chest wall after initial bedside drainage of a SM empy...

Treatment of empyema thoracis.

Empyema thoracis: management outcome.

BACKGROUND Empyema thoracis results from postpneumonic effusion of bacterial origin or trauma. If untreated it may convert to fibro-purulent or an organising stage. METHODS This study was conducted at cardiothoracic unit of Ayub Teaching Hospital Abbottabad from Jan 2008 to Aug 2009. Patients with diagnosis of empyema thoracic were studied. Their clinical features and investigations were reco...