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...

The scientists William S. Tillett and Sol Sherry were responsible for the introduction of intrapleural fibrinolytics as therapeutic agents, thus supplementing antimicrobial therapy in the treatment of empyema. They were the first to suggest the possibility that the use of these drugs in empyema might obviate the need for radical surgical procedures. This article highlights their original work a...

Many types of infections associated with colorectal cancer have been reported. Here, we describe a rare case of thoracic empyema that was observed during immunotherapy for recurrent colon cancer. Culture of the pleural fluid yielded Streptococcus bovis, which is known to be associated with gastrointestinal lesions, especially colorectal malignancies. The possible correlation between these two c...

Fibrinolytic enzymes, particularly streptokinase, are now widely used to treat empyema thoracis. Recent in vitro evidence suggests that streptokinase has no effect on pus viscosity but that deoxyribonuclease (DNase) reduces the viscosity of pus. We report the first use of human recombinant DNase given intrapleurally to treat an empyema which had not resolved after standard treatment with strept...

A 67 year old man developed an oesophageal fistula after a pneumonectomy that was complicated by an empyema. An omental pedicle flap was brought through the diaphragm to repair the fistula and to fill the empyema space. The outcome was successful.

OBJECTIVE The appropriate timing, as well as the type of intervention, for the treatment of empyema in children is controversial. The advent of video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) has changed the way we treat these children. Therefore, we reviewed our experience with the early use of VATS in the treatment of empyema and formulated a treatment algorithm. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed ...

OBJECTIVE For patients with postoperative pleural empyema, open window thoracostomy (OWT) is often necessary to prevent sepsis. Vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) is a well-known therapeutic option in wound treatment. The efficacy and safety of intrathoracal VAC therapy, especially in patients with pleural empyema with bronchial stump insufficiency or remain lung, has not yet been investigated. ME...

BACKGROUND Although the incidence of serious morbidity with childhood pneumonia has decreased over time, empyema as a complication of community-acquired pneumonia continues to be an important clinical problem. We reviewed the epidemiology and clinical management of empyema at 8 pediatric hospitals in a period before the widespread implementation of universal infant heptavalent pneumococcal vacc...

From a retrospective scrutiny of 500 consecutive case records, which related to patients with empyema thoracis, over a 13-year period in a relatively closed community of one and a half million in the south-east region of Scotland (le Roux, 1965), it emerged that, in 50% of patients, empyema was related to non-specific pulmonary infection for which a persisting cause was not found, and that this...