Refractory empyema occasionally reflects hidden malignant disease. We presented a rare case of rapidly progressive malignant mesothelioma of the pleura (MPM) mimicking empyema. Physicians should be aware of MPM when patients with empyema are refractory to the standard treatment, and PET-CT may be helpful in establishing a precise diagnosis in such cases.

A 5 year old girl with thoracic empyema developed a scarlatiniform rash and acral desquamation. Cultures from blood, throat, and pleural fluid all grew Streptococcus pyogenes, a common etiologic agent of pediatric thoracic empyema. The presence of a scarlatiniform rash and acral desquamation in children with a thoracic empyema may help identify the causative organism.

Malignant tumors associated with chronic empyema have been reported in the literature, and a majority of these tumors are lymphomas. Epithelial tumors originating from the post-pneumonectomy space in patients with chronic empyema are extremely rare. Here, we present the cases of 2 patients with squamous cell carcinoma arising from the pleural cavity after pneumonectomy for chronic empyema.

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to investigate the association between splenectomy and empyema in Taiwan. METHODS A population-based cohort study was conducted using the hospitalisation dataset of the Taiwan National Health Insurance Program. A total of 13 193 subjects aged 20-84 years who were newly diagnosed with splenectomy from 2000 to 2010 were enrolled in the splenectomy group and 52 464 ran...

BACKGROUND The incidence of childhood pneumonia decreased following introduction of 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) in the United States. Recent regional reports suggest an increase in the incidence of childhood pneumonia complicated by empyema. We assessed whether early decreases in pneumonia hospitalization rates were sustained and trends in such hospitalizations complicated by...

BACKGROUND The role of drainage, intrapleural fibrinolytics, and/or surgery in the management of thoracic empyema is controversial. OBJECTIVES We aimed to investigate the operational practice of empyema management at our hospital. METHODS Between January 2001 and December 2008, all patients with thoracic empyema were retrieved. After exclusion of patients with malignant effusion, traumatic ...

STUDY OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to determine the impact of the timing of chest tube insertion on outcome for the treatment of empyema, using a new animal model of empyema. DESIGN A prospective, controlled randomized, blinded design was used. SETTING The study was conducted in an animal research laboratory. PATIENTS OR PARTICIPANTS Sixty-six 2- to 3-kg rabbits were used in...

Despite many viscissitudes, pneumothorax is still the most important collapse measure in pulmonary tuberculosis. Its accessory procedure, closed intrapleural pneumonolysis, has increased greatly in usefulness and popularity and is considered to have very few complications. The most important one is tuberculous empyema which, in various published series’’#{176} ranges from zero to 26 per cent wi...

Background: Empyema is a condition that can be treated depending on the etiology of empyema and phase development. Open thoracotomy surgery conventional technique commonly used in has greater risk more extended postoperative hospital stay. This case series aims to evaluate Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS) shorten stay lower during surgery.Case Presentation: We describe five patients,...

Muscle flap transposition is one of the surgical treatment options for empyema with alveolarpleural fistula (APF) or bronchopleural fistula (BPF). This surgical procedure is invasive because it is typically performed by standard thoracotomy. We performed video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) debridement, decortication, and obliteration of an empyema cavity using a pedicled latissimus dors...