The aim of this study was to evaluate the pharmacokinetics and penetration of moxifloxacin (MXF) in patients with various types of pleural effusion. Twelve patients with empyema/parapneumonic effusion (PPE) and 12 patients with malignant pleural effusion were enrolled in the study. A single-dose pharmacokinetic study was performed after intravenous administration of 400 mg MXF. Serial plasma (P...

Mycoplasma pneumoniae has been associated with respiratory tract infections. Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia-related pleural effusion is rarely reported. Extra-pulmonary abnormalities such as encephalitis, myocarditis, glomerulonephritis, and myringitis have been reported. However pulmonary manifestations in systemic lupus erythematosus include pneumonitis, pleurisy, interstitial lung disease, ...

BACKGROUND The protein neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) is a mediator synthesized and released by neutrophils. Its physiological function is as yet unclear. Levels in blood increase in several inflammatory diseases. High serum values indicate poor prognosis for several diseases. Pleural effusion may appear as the result of various pathologies. The most common cause is heart fai...

INTRODUCTION Pleural effusions can complicate pneumonias in children and adolescents and are usually associated with a long hospital stay and increased morbidity. AIMS To characterise a population of patients with parapneumonic pleural effusion and to establish possible prognostic factors on admission based on clinical, imaging and analytical data. To correlate treatment options with the outc...

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the clinical and microbiological characteristics of parapneumonic effusions in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) were different from those observed in patients without HIV infection. One hundred and thirty seven patients with parapneumonic effusions were included and divided in...

OBJECTIVE A prospective randomized study was conducted in order to analyze the role of fibrinolytics in the treatment of complicated parapneumonic effusion. METHODS From 2001 to 2004, 127 consecutive patients were managed for thoracic empyema. In all cases the cause was bacterial pneumonia. Seventy patients were managed with sole tube thoracostomy (group A) and 57 with combination of tube tho...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the role of intrapleural streptokinase in the management of complicated parapneumonic effusions in children. DESIGN Prospective comparative study. SETTING Cheng Kung University Hospital, a tertiary medical center in Tainan, Taiwan. PATIENTS AND METHODS We enrolled as our prospective study group 20 consecutive children with complicated parapneumonic effusions who rece...

Intrapleural fibrinolysis has been investigated for the treatment of pleural effusion for several decades. Fibrinolytics have the ability to break up fibrin and loculations that characterize complicated pleural effusions, facilitating drainage. Older fibrinolytics such as urokinase and streptokinase have been replaced by tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) for this indication due to product avai...