STUDY OBJECTIVE We evaluated treatment and outcome of patients with thoracic empyema at a teaching institution. DESIGN AND SETTING Retrospective chart review over a 44-month period at a university hospital. PATIENTS AND MEASUREMENTS Charts of patients with a hospital discharge diagnosis of thoracic empyema were reviewed. Age, symptoms, alcohol use, empyema etiology, culture results, number ...

Empyema necessitatis refers to the extension of a purulent pleural effusion beyond the thoracic cavity into the neighboring chest wall and surrounding soft tissues. Empyema necessitatis is rare and are often associated with tuberculosis infection. We reported a previously healthy toddler with empyema necessitatis due to community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) ...

Objective: Simple irrigation has proven to be an ef®cient method to treat postpneumonectomy empyema provided that bronchopleural ®stula is not present or successfully closed. However, with this treatment modality, infected material inside the thoracic cavity is not removed and this can be a potential source of empyema recurrence if the patient's immune system is compromised. The removal of the ...

117 South Korea has the highest prevalence of tuberculosis among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development nations [1], despite the management of pulmonary tuberculosis with antituberculosis drugs. Therefore, South Korea also has a relatively high prevalence of tuberculous empyema, a complication of tuberculosis that accounts for 3%–6% of all cases of empyema [2]. A chronic, act...

BACKGROUND Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) appears to be replacing open thoracotomy for the treatment of posttraumatic thoracic complications. OBJECTIVE To compare operative times, complication rates, and outcomes in patients who underwent VATS vs open thoracotomy. DESIGN Retrospective review. SETTING University hospital, level I trauma center. PATIENTS Trauma patients who betwee...

Vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) is gaining popularity in the management of many types of acute and chronic wounds. The use of VAC devices in thoracic surgery is limited, but it appears to be promising in complex cases of empyema thoraces. We report a case of empyema necessitans, in which VAC was used to achieve complete wound healing after open drainage which was communicating with the pleural sp...

Actinomyces israelii usually causes chronic suppurative and granulomatous infections. Isolated pleural effusion due to Actinomycosis is rare. This report describes an unusual case of thoracic empyema caused by A. israelii with sudden onset and rapid deterioration that failed to respond to chest tube drainage and antibiotherapy. Empyema drainage and visceral parietal pleurectomy by a left postol...