MyMedR

Fulltext Clinical relevance of molecular testing methods in the diagnosis and guidance of therapy in patients with staphylococcal empyema: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Ojha SC, Chen K, Yuan Y, Ahmed S, Malik AA, Nisha M, et al.

Front Cell Infect Microbiol, 2022;12:758833.

PMID: 35967859 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.758833

BACKGROUND: Efficient detection tools for determining staphylococcal pleural infection are critical for its eradication. The objective of this meta-analysis was to assess the diagnostic utility of nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT) in suspected empyema cases to identify staphylococcal strains and avoid unnecessary empiric methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) therapy.

METHODS: From inception to July 24, 2021, relevant records were retrieved from PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library. The quality of studies was determined using the QUADAS-2 tool. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic (HSROC) curve for NAAT's diagnostic performance were evaluated using an HSROC model.

RESULTS: Eight studies comprising 424 samples evaluated NAAT accuracy for Staphylococcus aureus (SA) identification, while four studies comprising 317 samples evaluated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) identification. The pooled NAAT summary estimates for detection of both SA (sensitivity: 0.35 (95% CI 0.19-0.55), specificity: 0.95 (95% CI 0.92-0.97), PLR: 7.92 (95% CI 4.98-12.59), NLR: 0.44 (95% CI 0.14-1.46), and DOR: 24.0 (95% CI 6.59-87.61) ) and MRSA (sensitivity: 0.45 (95% CI 0.15-0.78), specificity: 0.93 (95% CI 0.89-0.95), PLR: 10.06 (95% CI 1.49-67.69), NLR: 0.69 (95% CI 0.41-1.15), and DOR: 27.18 (95% CI 2.97-248.6) ) were comparable. The I2 statistical scores for MRSA and SA identification sensitivity were 13.7% and 74.9%, respectively, indicating mild to substantial heterogeneity. PCR was frequently used among NAA tests, and its diagnostic accuracy coincided well with the overall summary estimates. A meta-regression and subgroup analysis of country, setting, study design, patient selection, and sample condition could not explain the heterogeneity (meta-regression P = 0.66, P = 0.46, P = 0.98, P = 0.68, and P = 0.79, respectively) in diagnostic effectiveness.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggested that the diagnostic accuracy of NAA tests is currently inadequate to substitute culture as a principal screening test. NAAT could be used in conjunction with microbiological culture due to the advantage of faster results and in situations where culture tests are not doable.

Matched MeSH terms: Empyema*

Fulltext eComment: Debridement for empyema: an alternative to decortication but in whom and when?

Sachithanandan A, Badmanaban B

Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg, 2011 May;12(5):727.

PMID: 21555437 DOI: 10.1510/icvts.2010.247619A

Matched MeSH terms: Empyema, Pleural/pathology; Empyema, Pleural/physiopathology; Empyema, Pleural/radiography; Empyema, Pleural/surgery*

Empyema thoracis complicated by pneumothorax necessitans manifesting as lobulated, localized subcutaneous emphysematous swellings

Kuan YC, How SH, Yeen WC, Ng TH, Fauzi AR

Ann Thorac Surg, 2011 Jun;91(6):1969-71.

PMID: 21619994 DOI: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2010.11.075

We describe a patient with empyema thoracis that had eroded through the apical chest wall to the supraclavicular fossa and lung parenchyma, ultimately leading to a bronchopleural fistula manifesting as lobulated, localized subcutaneous emphysematous swellings over the chest wall and supraclavicular fossa. This is a rarely reported phenomenon and the reason why the lobulated subcutaneous emphysematous swellings remained localized is unknown.

Matched MeSH terms: Empyema, Pleural/complications*

Fulltext A case of empyema thoracis caused by actinomycosis

Hooi LN, Na BS, Sin KS

Med J Malaysia, 1992 Dec;47(4):311-5.

PMID: 1303486

A female patient who presented with left empyema thoracis caused by Actinomyces odontolyticus is reported. She responded to treatment with penicillin and metronidazole but after 3 weeks developed leucopenia complicated by gram-negative septicaemia. Leucopenia improved rapidly on withdrawal of metronidazole. Treatment was continued with a prolonged course of penicillin and she made an uneventful recovery.

Matched MeSH terms: Empyema, Pleural/drug therapy; Empyema, Pleural/etiology*; Empyema, Pleural/microbiology

Fulltext Culture-positive thoracic empyema in adults

Liam CK, Pendek R, Navaratnam P, Hassan H, Puthucheary SD, Abdul Majid A, et al.

Med J Malaysia, 1990 Jun;45(2):169-76.

PMID: 2152022

Twenty-nine adult patients with culture-positive thoracic empyema were seen at the University Hospital Kuala Lumpur from 1984 to 1988. Cough, fever, chest pain, dyspnoea and weight loss were the common presenting symptoms. The empyema in 16 patients was associated with primary bronchopulmonary infections, nine occurred following thoracentesis of culture-sterile pleural effusions, two occurred as post-thoracic surgery complications, one following a subdiaphragmatic abscess and one as a result of a stab wound. The most common culture isolates were Streptococcus milleri, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Closed tube thoracostomy, the most common form of drainage procedure employed, was able to effect a cure or control of the empyema in 11 out of 19 patients in whom it was used.

Matched MeSH terms: Empyema, Pleural/etiology; Empyema, Pleural/microbiology*; Empyema, Pleural/therapy

Fulltext The man with the boggy head: cranial melioidosis

Kuan YC, How SH, Ng TH, Fauzi AR

Singapore Med J, 2010 Feb;51(2):e43-5.

PMID: 20358143

Melioidosis is known to cause abscesses in various organs, including the cranium, though less commonly. We present a patient with scalp abscess and subdural empyema that was visible on computed tomography of the brain. The neurosurgical drainage grew Burkholderia pseudomallei. Despite our best effort to treat the patient using parenteral antibiotics and surgical drainage, the patient did not survive.

Matched MeSH terms: Empyema, Subdural/drug therapy; Empyema, Subdural/microbiology*; Empyema, Subdural/radiography*

Analysis of pediatric subdural empyema outcome in relation to computerized tomography brain scan

Md Ralib AR, Ariff AR, Shuaib IL, Naing NN, George PJ, Abdullah JM

Southeast Asian J. Trop. Med. Public Health, 2004 Jun;35(2):434-44.

PMID: 15691152

A cross-sectional study was conducted to predict the outcome in patients with subdural empyema, using initial and post-treatment CT scan brain parameters. Data collection was done on those children who were diagnosed to have subdural empyema by CT scan of the brain with contrast, who underwent burrhole evacuation, from February 2000 until April 2002. Numerous factors, such as coma or loss of unconsciousness at diagnosis, age, types of antibiotic, microbiology, extension of empyema, associated cerebral infarction and ventriculitis, were analyzed. Poor prognosis was associated with loss of consciousness, and hypodensity by CT scan at presentation (p < 0.005). Patients with an extensive subdural empyema will have a good outcome if they are treated early and aggressively with antibiotics and burrhole evacuation.

Matched MeSH terms: Empyema, Subdural/drug therapy; Empyema, Subdural/physiopathology; Empyema, Subdural/radiography*; Empyema, Subdural/surgery*

Bismuth paste injection for empyema thoracis: a 100-year-old method revisited

Reda Mahmoud TA, Ismail NI, Muda AS, Abdul Rahman MR

Ann Thorac Surg, 2010 Aug;90(2):654-5.

PMID: 20667375 DOI: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2010.02.031

Bismuth paste injection into the pleural cavity used to be a treatment for chronic empyema thoracis. This method, however, was long forgotten and scarcely practiced due to advanced surgical techniques and antibiotic therapy. We report a 50-year-old man with chronic empyema thoracis who was successfully treated with bismuth paste injection after a failed surgical decortication and a long-term chest drainage. This case highlights a trial of a 100-year-old method of bismuth paste injection which proved effective after standard measures had failed.

Matched MeSH terms: Empyema, Pleural/therapy*

Intracranial suppuration caused by Micrococcus luteus

Selladurai BM, Sivakumaran S, Aiyar S, Mohamad AR

Br J Neurosurg, 1993;7(2):205-7.

PMID: 8098607

Micrococcus spp. are commensal organisms colonizing the body surfaces of humans. In a few instances these organisms have been reported to colonize ventricular shunts. We report a patient, with no overt evidence of immunosuppression, in whom Micrococcus luteus was responsible for intracranial suppuration at multiple sites.

Matched MeSH terms: Empyema, Subdural/diagnosis; Empyema, Subdural/microbiology; Empyema, Subdural/surgery

The great masquerade: Empyema thoracis as an unusual presentation of primary lung malignancy

Nyanti LE, Kho SS, Tie ST

Med J Malaysia, 2019 02;74(1):79-81.

PMID: 30846667

Primary lung malignancy presenting as empyema is rare, with a reported incidence of 0.3%. We report a case of a 60- year-old man presenting with unilateral pleural effusion; diagnostic thoracocentesis confirmed Salmonella empyema. Post-drainage, chest radiograph showed persisting right hemithorax opacity; subsequent computed tomography revealed a right lung mass with right upper lobe bronchus obliteration. Percutaneous biopsy confirmed advanced stage lung adenocarcinoma. We discuss the mechanism of post-obstructive pneumonia in lung cancerassociated empyema and the utility of bedside ultrasound in diagnosis of lung masses. Clinicians are alerted to the possibility of lung malignancy in elderly patients presenting with empyema.

Matched MeSH terms: Empyema, Pleural/diagnosis*; Empyema, Pleural/microbiology; Empyema, Pleural/pathology

Pyopneumothorax secondary to Streptococcus milleri infection

Che Rahim MJ, Mohammad N, Wan Ghazali WS

BMJ Case Rep, 2016 Nov 23;2016.

PMID: 27881590 DOI: 10.1136/bcr-2016-217537

We report a case of a 46-year-old Malay woman with underlying hypothyroidism post thyroidectomy who presented with worsening breathlessness, orthopnoea, productive cough and left-sided pleuritic chest pain of 3 days duration. Chest X-ray on admission showed left-sided massive hydropneumothorax. Pleural tapping revealed empyema. A chest tube was inserted immediately. The culture of pleural fluid grew Streptococcus constellatus The patient was treated with antibiotics for a total of 6 weeks and underwent open thoracotomy and decortication during admission. Subsequently, her lung condition improved and there was no evidence of recurrence during follow-up.

Matched MeSH terms: Empyema, Pleural/diagnosis; Empyema, Pleural/microbiology; Empyema, Pleural/therapy

Fulltext Empyema thoracis and lung abscess

Yaacob I, Ariffin Z

Singapore Med J, 1991 Feb;32(1):63-6.

PMID: 2017709

The case histories of 22 patients with lung abscess and empyema presenting to Hospital University Sains Malaysia (HUSM) between 1984 and 1989 are reviewed. The presenting features of both lung abscess and empyema were similar. The commonest predisposing factor was pneumonia, and the commonest organism isolated was Staphylococcus aureus but in the majority of cases, no causal organisms were identified. All the patients were treated with antibiotics and in addition, closed chest tube drainage was performed initially in all patients with empyema. Three patients with empyema required additional surgical drainage procedures. Death occurred in one patient with empyema and in one patient with lung abscess. The features, aetiology, treatment and outcome of thoracic empyema and lung abscess are discussed.

Matched MeSH terms: Empyema/diagnosis*; Empyema/drug therapy; Empyema/surgery

Fulltext Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection complicated by empyema: a rare presentation

Othman N, Yip CW, Samat NA

Med J Malaysia, 2005 Aug;60(3):389-91.

PMID: 16379202

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 a course of six weeks of treatment with erythromycin.

Matched MeSH terms: Empyema/microbiology*; Empyema/therapy

Fulltext Disseminated tuberculosis masquerading primary myelodysplastic syndrome

Shaharir SS, Tumian NR, Yu Lin AB, Abdul Wahid SF

J Infect Dev Ctries, 2013 Mar;7(3):286-8.

PMID: 23493009 DOI: 10.3855/jidc.2691

Tuberculosis is notoriously known to be a great mimicker of other diseases and may cause various haematologic abnormalities, especially with marrow involvement. A 61-year-old man who presented with right empyema and pancytopenia was diagnosed to have disseminated tuberculosis supported by the presence of caseating granuloma with Langhan's giant cells in the marrow and demonstration of acid-fast bacilli in the pleural fluid. Trilineage dysplasia from marrow aspirate was initially attributed to be reactive to the infection. A cytogenetic study was repeated after he showed poor response to a year of anti-tuberculosis treatment. The underlying primary myelodysplastic syndrome was unmasked when his cytogenetics showed trisomy 8. This case report has demonstrated the various haematological manifestations of tuberculosis and highlighted the importance of cytogenetic study in differentiating between primary and secondary myelodysplastic marrow changes.

Matched MeSH terms: Empyema/diagnosis*; Empyema/etiology

Empyema thoracis in hospitalized children in Kelantan, Malaysia

Maziah W, Choo KE, Ray JG, Ariffin WA

J Trop Pediatr, 1995 06;41(3):185-8.

PMID: 7636941 DOI: 10.1093/tropej/41.3.185

In this study, 31 cases of childhood empyema thoracis admitted over 4 1/2 years to the Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, in Kelantan, Malaysia, were retrospectively reviewed. Twenty-two males and nine females were included, with a mean age of 1.9 years (range: 26 days to 7 years). Frequent symptoms were fever, cough, and dyspnoea, while common signs were temperature above 38 degrees C, decreased breath sounds, dullness to chest percussion, and intercostal recession. Radiography demonstrated unilateral moderate to large effusions in 68 per cent of cases, while consolidated lung was seen in 45 per cent of patients. Pleural fluid cultures were positive for Staphylococcus aureus (48 per cent), Streptococcus pneumoniae (7 per cent), while no growth was seen in 42 per cent of cases. Ninety-four per cent of children had a blood leukocytosis above 10 000 cell/mm3, but blood cultures were negative in 21 out of 26 patients (81 per cent). Most cases were treated with a combination of intravenous antibiotics and chest tube drainage. Antibiotics and pleural tap(s) were used in the remainder. Patients stayed in hospital for an average of 20.7 days (range: 4-52 days). Surgical intervention was necessary in only four children. The mortality rate at the time of discharge was zero, with 100 per cent radiographic resolution among the 23 patients who were followed-up.

Matched MeSH terms: Empyema, Pleural/diagnosis*; Empyema, Pleural/therapy*

Fulltext Repair of thoracic oesophageal perforation with latissimus dorsi flap

Yap CM

Med J Malaysia, 1994 Mar;49(1):100-1.

PMID: 8057981

Thoracic oesophageal perforation, a life-threatening condition, is a therapeutic challenge. A 20 year old male developed a lower oesophageal perforation following an abdominal cardiomyotomy for achalasia of the lower oesophagus. The resulting suppurative mediastinitis and left empyema thoracis were treated by decortication. The oesophageal perforation was closed using a transposition pedicle left latissimus dorsi muscle flap.

Matched MeSH terms: Empyema/etiology; Empyema/surgery*

Chest tube injury to left ventricle: complication or negligence?

Haron H, Rashid NA, Dimon MZ, Azmi MH, Sumin JO, Zabir AF, et al.

Ann Thorac Surg, 2010 Jul;90(1):308-9.

PMID: 20609810 DOI: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2010.01.075

An injury to the left ventricle after a chest tube insertion is a rare but lethal phenomenon that is likely to occur if precautions are not seriously addressed. We present a 15-year-old girl who was diagnosed a left empyema thoracis. An attempt to place a chest drain in this young girl was almost fatal. A left ventricular repair together with thoracotomy and decortication were successful. This case emphasizes the rarity of this lethal complication and the importance of the correct technique for chest tube insertion.

Matched MeSH terms: Empyema, Pleural/etiology; Empyema, Pleural/therapy*

Pediatric empyema thoracis: roles and outcomes of surgery in advanced disease

Ho YL, Jamaluddin MF, Krishinan S, Salleh A, Khamis AY, Abdul Kareem BA

Asian Cardiovasc Thorac Ann, 2020 Mar;28(3):152-157.

PMID: 32122151 DOI: 10.1177/0218492320910932

Matched MeSH terms: Empyema, Pleural/physiopathology; Empyema, Pleural/surgery*

Fulltext Subdural collections due to non-typhi Salmonella infections in two Malaysian children

Intan HI, Zubaidah CD, Norazah A, Norlijah O

Singapore Med J, 2008 Jul;49(7):e186-9.

PMID: 18695854

Subdural collections caused by Salmonella infection are rarely encountered in children. We present two cases caused by non-typhi Salmonella, one a four-and-a-half-month-old boy presenting with subdural effusion, and the other, a 16-month-old boy with empyema. The diagnosis was confirmed on blood and subdural pus cultures. One patient had status epilepticus following focal fit, and the other had prolonged fever without any localising signs of infection on admission. They responded well to prompt surgical drainage and prolonged systemic antibiotic therapy. Contrary to previous reports, both patients showed favourable outcome in terms of neurological sequelae.

Matched MeSH terms: Empyema, Subdural/diagnosis; Empyema, Subdural/microbiology

Fulltext Bilateral subtentorial empyema complicated with nosocomial acinectobacter ventriculitis: a case report

Sim SK, Ch'ng CH, Tan YC, Kandasamy R, Abdullah JM

Med J Malaysia, 2014 Apr;69(2):86-8.

PMID: 25241818 MyJurnal

Subtentorial subdural empyema is a rare and life threatening intracranial suppuration. It is usually an intracranial complication of otogenic infections. Early diagnosis and surgical drainage are the most important factors determining prognosis. The high mortality reported in the literature reflects the severity of subtentorial subdural empyema if proper management is delayed. Intracranial infections usually require between 4 to 6 weeks of intravenous antibiotics therapy. However, the prolonged duration of hospitalization as well as requirement for neurosurgically inserted indwelling devices may predispose these patients to new nosocomial infections.

Matched MeSH terms: Empyema, Subdural

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