We describe the case of a 79-year-old man who presented with an enlarging mass on his chest wall. He had a history of thoracoplasty performed 55 years ago for treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis. The mass was subsequently proven to be the result of empyema neccesitans caused by reactivation tuberculosis. Empyema neccesitans is a well described entity in which an empyema spontaneously decompress...

TOPIC: Chest Infections TYPE: Medical Student/Resident Case Reports INTRODUCTION: Empyema necessitans (EN) is a rare condition resulting from communicating track between an intrathoracic infection and the chest wall [1]. The use of antibiotics has made EN rare, with estimated incidence 2% in United States [2]. We present case 54-year-old male, who was found to have sputum culture, suggestive Kl...

Staphylococcus aureus is a well recognized pathogen with global distribution. In recent years community-associated, methicillin-resistant S. aureus has emerged as an increasing cause of severe infections among adults and children. Herein, a case is reported of a previously healthy, 19-month-old male, who presented with empyema necessitans and acute osteomyelitis due to a community-associated, m...

A 22-year-old man, a recent immigrant from Mexico, was admitted to a Wisconsin hospital because of a swelling of the chest wall and right axilla. Originally, it was thought to be a skin infection with Staphylococcus aureus. When the treatment was unsuccessful, the patient returned to the hospital and the abscesses were found to have been caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Furthermore, there ...