After unsuccessful treatment with intercostal tube drainage and antibiotics intrapleural streptokinase was used to treat successfully an empyema in a man with AIDS and advanced cutaneous Kaposi's sarcoma who was unfit for surgical decortication. The role of this technique in the management of HIV positive patients with empyema is discussed.

Serious infections due to lactobacilli have been rarely reported [1, 2]. The most common clinical syndromes are endocarditis and sepsis arising from localized infection. Recently we published the first case of pneumonia caused by Lactobacillus sp [3]. To date only two other cases of pleuropulmonary infection have been published [4]; an empyema and a pneumonia with a concomitant non-related lact...

The report on subdural empyema by EK Ranjini and colleagues alerts us to the severity of pneumococcal meningitis in young infants(1). Of the three infants in their series with pyogenic meningitis complicated by subdural empyema, two died and the third was taken home moribund, in spite of accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment. There are several important lessons to be learned from this re...

A 21 year old man with a retropharyngeal abscess complained of right sided chest pain, and chest radiography and thoracocentesis revealed an empyema. A computed tomographic scan of the chest showed a posterior mediastinal abscess communicating with the right pleural cavity. Emergency thoracotomy was performed and the mediastinal abscess and empyema were drained.

OBJECTIVE To find out the safety profile of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in empyema of gallbladder. BACKGROUND Empyema of gall bladder is a severe form of acute cholecystitis with superadded suppuration. It has been considered a contraindication for the laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) because of fear of life-threatening complications. This study aimed to determine the safety and feasibility...

OBJECTIVE Empyema remains a significant cause of morbidity in children. This study evaluates the changes that have affected the outcome in children with pleural empyema, including the emergence of resistant organisms, the introduction of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, and earlier treatment with video-assisted thoracoscopy (VATS). METHODS A retrospective chart review was performed on all ...

OBJECTIVE High risk and a long hospitalization time are often quoted as negative aspects of aggressive surgery in pleural empyema. We did a retrospective analysis evaluating outcome and duration of hospitalization in patients treated according to an aggressive schedule. METHODS Since 1989 we have treated 101 patients with pleural empyema (72 males, 29 females; mean age 50.3 years, range 11-91...

Pleural infection is a frequent clinical condition. Prompt treatment has been shown to reduce hospital costs, morbidity and mortality. Recent advances in treatment have been variably implemented in clinical practice. This statement reviews the latest developments and concepts to improve clinical management and stimulate further research. The European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EAC...

INTRODUCTION Parapneumonic pleural empyema is a critical illness. Age is an acknowledged risk factor for both pneumonia and pleural empyema. Furthermore, elderly patients often have severe co-morbidity. In the case of pleural empyema, their clinical condition is likely to deteriorate fast, resulting in life threatening septic disease. To prevent this disastrous situation we adapted early surgi...

BACKGROUND Although the frequency of pneumonia has decreased over time, an increase in pleural empyema has been observed in different settings worldwide. This study assessed the epidemiology of community-acquired pediatric pleural empyema in the province of Quebec through validation of cases found in a hospitalization discharge database. METHODS We used the national administrative database of...