To review our experience in treatment of patients with thoracic empyema at a teaching hospital chart of patients were retrospectively reviewed over a 72-month period. A total of 112 patients (94 men, 18 women, mean age: 39, range: 6-89 years) underwent therapeutic procedures for thoracic empyema between 2001-2006. The causes of empyema included parapneumonic empyema (60.7%), thoracic trauma (20...

Appendicitis and thoracic empyema are rarely presented together. Herein, we present a thoracic empyema due to bacterial translocation in a patient, after she underwent appendicectomy for nonperforated acute appendicitis. Postoperative third day, thoracic empyema was revealed clinically and radiologically. Tube thoracostomy and antibiotherapy were performed. Despite all these therapy, her sympto...

BACKGROUND Empyema thoracis in children causes significant morbidity. Standard treatment of Empyema thoracis includes tube drainage and antibiotics. But the tube drainage often fails. Intrapleural Streptokinase has been used in empyema thoracis with good success rate. OBJECTIVES We evaluated the efficacy of intra-pleural Streptokinase in management of empyema thoracis even in advanced stages....

A persistent post-pneumonectomy bronchopleural fistula and empyema were successfully treated by draining and cleansing the empyema cavity and then occluding the fistula with fibrin sealant.

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 To determine if the incidence of empyema among children in the United States has changed since the introduction of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in 2000. METHODS We used the nationally representative Kids' Inpatient Database to estimate the annual total number of hospitalizations of children < or = 18 years of age that were associated with empyema in 1997, 2000,2003, and 2006 [...

Malignant neoplasms are reported to occur with long-standing tuberculous pleuritis or chronic empyema. During the clinical course of chronic empyema, subjective symptoms such as chest pain and deterioration of dyspnea and abnormal clinical signs such as increased abnormal chest shadows have frequently been found. Though difficult, differentiating the occurrence of malignant tumors from worsenin...

BACKGROUND Surgery is routinely recommended for lumbar lipomyelomeningocele, especially in the setting of tethered cord syndrome. The most common complications are wound infections and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak, which remain confined to the surgical site. To the best of our knowledge, there have been no prior reports relating an intracranial subdural empyema following detethering surgery. ...

Empyema is a problem faced by clinicians worldwide. Most cases are caused by Gram-positive organisms, such as streptococci and staphylococci. Empyema caused by Capnocytophaga spp. is extremely uncommon (H. Bonatti et al., Clin. Microbiol. Infect. 9:380-387, 2003). We present a unique case of a polymicrobial empyema, with a predominance of Capnocytophaga sputigena, in an older patient with no hi...

Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a common causative agent for childhood pneumonia. However, empyema is a rare presentation. We report a case of a previously well child who presented with a right-sided empyema. M. pneumoniae was confirmed serologically with evidence of a four-fold rise in Mycoplasma IgM titre. The empyema required drainage procedures for more than two weeks. The infection resolved with ...