Pleural empyema with endobronchial mass due to Rhodococcus equi infection after renal transplantation: A case report and review of literature

BACKGROUND Kidney transplantation is the best option for patients with end-stage renal disease.However,the need for lifelong immunosuppression results in renal transplant recipients being susceptible to various infections.Rhodococcus equi(R.equi)is a rare opportunistic pathogen in humans,and there are limited reports of infection with R.equi in post-renal transplant recipients and no uniform standard of treat-ment.This article reports on the diagnosis and treatment of a renal transplant recipient infected with R.equi 21 mo postoperatively and summarizes the charac-teristics of infection with R.equi after renal transplantation,along with a detailed review of the literature.Here,we present the case of a 25-year-old man who was infected with R.equi 21 mo after renal transplantation.Although the clinical features at the time of presentation were not specific,chest computed tomography(CT)showed a large volume of pus in the right thoracic cavity and right middle lung atelectasis,and fiberoptic bronchoscopy showed an endobronchial mass in the right middle and lower lobe orifices.Bacterial culture and metagenomic next-generation sequen-cing sequencing of the pus were suggestive of R.equi infection.The immunosup-pressive drugs were immediately suspended and intravenous vancomycin and azithromycin were administered,along with adequate drainage of the abscess.The endobronchial mass was then resected.After the patient’s clinical symptoms and chest CT presentation resolved,he was switched to intravenous ciprofloxacin and azithromycin,followed by oral ciprofloxacin and azithromycin.The patient was re-hospitalized 2 wk after discharge for recurrence of R.equi infection.He recovered after another round of adequate abscess drainage and intravenous ciprofloxacin and azithromycin.CONCLUSION Infection with R.equi in renal transplant recipients is rare and complex,and the clinical presentation lacks specificity.Elaborate antibiotic therapy is required,and adequate abscess drainage and surgical excision are necessary.Given the recurrent nature of R.equi,patients need to be followed-up closely.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma mimics thoracic empyema: A case report

BACKGROUND Thoracic empyema and malignant pleural mesothelioma(MPM)are distinct medical conditions with similar symptoms,including cough,chest pain,and breathing difficulty.We present a rare MPM case mimicking thoracic empyema.Physicians must consider MPM risks for patients exposed to building material who exhibit lobulated pleural effusions,indicating thoracic empyema.CASE SUMMARY A 68-year-old retired male construction worker suffered from shortness of breath and chest tightness over 10 d,particularly during physical activity.A poor appetite and 4 kg weight loss over the past 3 wk were also reported.Chest images and laboratory data concluded a tentative impression of empyema thoracis(right).Video-assisted thoracic surgery with decortication and delobulation(right)was conducted.The pathological report yielded an MPM diagnosis.Refractory pleural bilateral effusions and respiratory failure developed postoperatively,and the patient died three weeks after the operation.CONCLUSION Thoracic empyema and MPM are distinct medical conditions that can present similar symptoms,and video-assisted thoracic surgery facilitates an accurate diagnosis.Empyema-mimicking presentations and postoperative refractory pleural effusion may indicate a poor MPM outcome.

Idiopathic colopleural fistula presenting with lung abscess and refractory empyema:A case report

BACKGROUND Colopleural fistula is a rare condition,and only a limited number of cases have been reported.Here,we report a case of idiopathic colopleural fistula in an adult without any known predisposing factors.The patient presented with a lung abscess and refractory empyema and was successfully treated with surgical resection.CASE SUMMARY A 47-year-old man with a history of lung tuberculosis,which had been completely cured 4 years ago,presented to our emergency department with a productive cough and fever for 3 d.Tracing his history,he had undergone left lower lobe segmentectomy of the left lung due to lung abscess one year ago at another hospital.However,he developed refractory empyema postoperatively despite surgical intervention including decortication and flap reconstruction.After admission,we reviewed his previous medical images and noted a fistula tract between the left pleural cavity and splenic flexure.In addition,according to his medical records,bacterial culture of the thoracic drainage showed growth of Escherichia coli and Bacteroides fragilis.Our lower gastrointestinal series and colonoscopy confirmed the diagnosis of colopleural fistula.The patient underwent a left hemicolectomy,splenectomy,and distal pancreatectomy,and the diaphragm was repaired under our care.No further empyema recurrence was noted during follow-up.CONCLUSION Indicative signs of colopleural fistula include refractory empyema accompanied by the growth of colonic flora in the pleural fluid.

Fatal Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 pleural empyema:A case report

BACKGROUND Legionella pneumophila(L.pneumophila)is a gram-negative intracellular bacillus composed of sixteen different serogroups.It is mostly known to cause pneumonia in individuals with known risk factors as immunocompromised status,tobacco use,chronic organ failure or age older than 50 years.Although parapneumonic pleural effusion is frequent in legionellosis,pleural empyema is very uncommon.In this study,we report a case of fatal pleural empyema caused by L.pneumophila serogroup 1 in an 81-year-old man with multiple risk factors.CASE SUMMARY An 81-year-old man presented to the emergency with a 3 wk dyspnea,fever and left chest pain.His previous medical conditions were chronic lymphocytic leukemia,diabetes mellitus,chronic kidney failure,hypertension and hyperlipidemia,without tobacco use.Chest X-ray and comouted tomographyscan confirmed a large left pleural effusion,which puncture showed a citrine exudate with negative standard bacterial cultures.Despite intravenous cefotaxime antibiotherapy,patient’s worsening condition after 10 d led to thoracocentesis and evacuation of 2 liters of pus.The patient progressively developed severe hypoxemia and multiorgan failure occurred.The patient was treated by antibiotherapy with cefepime and amikacin and with adequate symptomatic shock treatment,but died of uncontrolled sepsis.The next day,cultures of the surgical pleural liquid samples yielded L.pneumophila serogroup 1,consistent with the diagnosis of pleural legionellosis.CONCLUSION L.pneumophila should be considered in patients with multiple risk factors and undiagnosed pleural empyema unresponsive to conventional antibiotherapy.

Clinical features, management and outcomes of pediatric pleural empyema: A retrospective, multicenter cross sectional study

Objectives:To evaluate clinical features,treatment strategies,and outcomes of pleural empyema for children who were treated at referral pediatric hospitals in 8 provinces of Iran.Methods:In this retrospective,multicenter cross sectional study,we retrospectively retrieved patients'data from 8 teaching hospitals during 2010 and 2017.A questionnaire was applied and filled,and all data were statistically and descriptively analyzed.Results:In total,191 children(109 males and 82 females)were included.Their mean age was 4.95 years and ranged from 11 months to 16 years.The majority of cases(45.1%)were 1-4 years old.Fever(70.3%),cough(65.6%),tachypnea(53.1%),chest pain(14.6%),and abdominal pain(12%)were the most common manifestations at admission.The mean length of admission in hospital was 16.4 d.Consequently,27 patients(14.1%)were admitted into the pediatric intensive unit because of severe illness,and 15 patients(7.9%)died.Logistic regression analysis showed that younger age(less than 12 months)and presence of underlying diseases(such as cardiovascular disease,immune deficiencies,malignancies,and neuro-developmental delay)significantly increased the mortality rate of patients with pleural empyema(P=0.004 and P=0.001,respectively).Conclusions:Pleural empyema children of younger age and with underlying diseases are at higher risks of death.In addition,guidelines for treating pleural empyema should be developed.

Indwelling Pleural Catheter Insertion Following Inefficient Thoracoscopic Decortication in Postpneumonic Empyema: Beneficial or Contraindicated?

Video assisted thoracic surgery in advanced stage postpneumonic empyema aims for thorough debridement and washout of the pleural space followed by an attempt to release the entrapped lung (decortication). When the latter isn’t successful, and the patient is in a poor performance status, applying tube thoracostomy is the usual routine, to avoid conversion to thoracotomy and open decortication. Tube thoracostomy, however, is associated with complications necessitating further surgery, needs long term follow up and also entails quality of life distorting issues. To overcome these disadvantages, we instead inserted a PleurX&reg indwelling pleural catheter in four patients in the above situation. The method brought success (lung re-expansion and complete or partial pleurodesis) without the need for further surgery or quality of life problems in either patient. Although the use of the indwelling pleural catheter in infected pleural space is not recommended by manufacturers, we noted no complications.

Management for Pediatric Pleural Empyema in Resource-Poor Country: Is Chest Tube Drainage with Antiseptic Lavage-Irrigation Better than Tube Thoracostomy Alone?

Drainage by chest tube thoracostomy is widely used in treatment of early empyema thoracis in children, but drainage with antiseptic lavage-irrigation is more frequent in our context since the last 20 years. This study was to determine which was more effective in our experience comparing chest tube drainage with catheter antiseptic lavage-irrigation versus drainage by chest tube thoracostomy alone in the management of empyema thoracis in children. Patients and Methods: Demographic, clinical and microbiological data on children with thoracic empyema undergoing drainage by chest tube thoracostomy alone or with antiseptic lavage-irrigation were obtained from 2 thoracic surgical centers from September 2008 to December 2014. It was a retrospective study included 246 children (137 boys and 109 girls) who were managed for empyema thoracis at the author’s different department of surgery. Outcomes analysis with respect to treatment efficacy, hospital duration, chest tube duration, hospital costs, and need for subsequent procedures was analyzed and compared in the 2 groups. Results: Drainage of pus and antiseptic irrigation resulted in resolution of pyrexia with improvement in general condition in 85.82% of patients in group 1 and by tube thoracostomy alone in 73.95% in group 2. There are a significant difference in the length of hospital stay (p = 0.022), duration of chest tubes in situ (p = 0.040), treatment coast (p = 0.015) and outcome of stage 2 empyema disease (p = 0.037) between the 2 groups. Conclusion: it seems that chest tube drainage with antiseptic lavage-irrigation method is associated with a higher efficacy, shorter length of hospital stay, shorter duration of chest tube in situ, less cost and better outcome of stage 2 empyema diseases than a treatment strategy that utilizes chest tube thoracostomy alone.

Persistence of Pleural Effusions and Empyemas after Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Implementation in Uruguay

In Uruguay a post pneumococcal conjugate vaccine implementation surveillance of hospitalized children with pneumonia showed an increase of complicated pneumonias, while uncomplicated pneumonias decreased. Out of 151 pleural effusions, 62 were empyemas requiring drainage, the rest of cases were treated with antibiotics with a favorable outcome. Patient’s vaccinated status varied. Pneumococcal etiology was poorly documented. The few identified sero-types were 1 and 3, a fact that urges PCV13 use for their control.

Eikenella corrodens isolated from pleural effusion:A case report

BACKGROUND The bacterium Eikenella,classified as a gram-negative member of the phylum Proteobacteria,is distinguished by its rarity,corrosive nature,facultative anaerobic properties,and conditional pathogenicity.It represents the sole species within its genus-Eikenella corrodens(E.corrodens)-and can be found colonizing both human and animal oral and nasopharyngeal regions.Additionally,it occasionally inhabits the gastrointestinal or urogenital tracts.However,its slow growth rate can be attributed to its high nutritional requirements.However,there is an uneven distribution of construction and diagnostic capacity in China which poses undeniable challenges for the clinical examination and analysis of this case,especially in the basic hospitals.CASE SUMMARY Here we presented a case of empyema associated with E.corrodens infection in a 67-year-old male patient without any previous history of infectious diseases in our primary hospital in Dongguan district of China.The patient was admitted due to recurrent worsening cough,sputum production,and dyspnea for 3 d,which had persisted for over 20 years.Moreover,the patient experienced a onehour episode of unconsciousness.Upon admission,immediate comprehensive examinations were conducted on the patient which subsequently led to his admission to the intensive care unit.Meanwhile,the patient presented with drowsiness and profuse sweating along with bilateral conjunctival edema observed during initiation of non-invasive ventilation,suggesting empyema.A significant amount of coffee-colored malodorous pleural fluid was drained during the procedure above and sent to the laboratory department for inspection.Finally,laboratory culture results confirmed the presence of E.corrodens infection in the pleural fluid sample.The patient received antimicrobial therapy until died on day 22 in the hospital.CONCLUSION In this report,we presented a case of empyema associated with E.corrodens infection.Multiple courses of morphological examination,viable culture analysis,and biochemical identification revealed its difficulties in detecting distinctive characteristics,as well as a detection model worth promoting.It’s just that there were still certain deficiencies in terms of morphological assessment,biochemical identification,and drug susceptibility testing.

Comparison of efficacy of lung ultrasound and chest X-ray in diagnosing pulmonary edema and pleural effusion in ICU patients: A single centre, prospective, observational study

Background and Aims While chest X-ray (CXR) has been a conventional tool in intensive care units (ICUs) to identify lung pathologies, computed tomography (CT) scan remains the gold standard. Use of lung ultrasound (LUS) in resource-rich ICUs is still under investigation. The present study compares the utility of LUS to that of CXR in identifying pulmonary edema and pleural effusion in ICU patients. In addition, consolidation and pneumothorax were analyzed as secondary outcome measures. Material and Methods This is a prospective, single centric, observational study. Patients admitted in ICU were examined for lung pathologies, using LUS by a trained intensivist;and CXR done within 4 hours of each other. The final diagnosis was ascertained by an independent senior radiologist, based on the complete medical chart including clinical findings and the results of thoracic CT, if available. The results were compared and analyzed. Results Sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy of LUS was 95%, 94.4%, 94.67% for pleural effusion;and 98.33%, 97.78%, 98.00% for pulmonary edema respectively. Corresponding values with CXR were 48.33%, 76.67%, 65.33% for pleural effusion;and 36.67%, 82.22% and 64.00% for pulmonary edema respectively. Sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy of LUS was 91.30%, 96.85%, 96.00% for consolidation;and 100.00%, 79.02%, 80.00% for pneumothorax respectively. Corresponding values with CXR were 60.87%, 81.10%, 78.00% for consolidation;and 71.3%, 97.20%, 96.00% for pneumothorax respectively. Conclusion LUS has better diagnostic accuracy in diagnosis of pleural effusion and pulmonary edema when compared with CXR and is thus recommended as an effective alternative for diagnosis of these conditions in acute care settings. Our study recommends that a thoracic CT scan can be avoided in most of such cases.

Pleural effusion,ascites,colon ulcers and hematochezia:What we can learn from the diagnostic process of a patient with plasma cell myeloma:A case report

BACKGROUND Plasma cell myeloma(PCM)is characterized by hypercalcemia,renal impairment,anemia,and bone destruction.While pleural effusion,ascites,abdominal pain,and bloody stool are common manifestations of lung disease or gastrointestinal disorders,they are rarely observed in patients with PCM.CASE SUMMARY A 66-year-old woman presented with complaints of recurrent chest tightness,wheezing,and abdominal bloating accompanied by bloody stools.Computed tomography revealed pleural effusion and ascites.Pleural effusion tests showed inflammation,but the T-cell spot test and carcinoembryonic antigen were negative.Endoscopy showed colonic mucosal edema with ulcer formation and local intestinal lumen stenosis.Echocardiography revealed enlarged atria and reduced left ventricular systolic function.The diagnosis remained unclear.Further testing revealed elevated blood light chain lambda and urine immunoglobulin levels.Blood immunofixation electrophoresis was positive for immunoglobulin G lambda type.Smear cytology of the bone marrow showed a high proportion of plasma cells,accounting for about 4.5%.Histopathological examination of the bone marrow suggested PCM.Flow cytometry showed abnormal plasma cells with strong expression of CD38,CD138,cLambda,CD28,CD200,and CD117.Fluorescence in situ hybridization gene testing of the bone marrow suggested 1q21 gene amplification,but cytogenetic testing showed no clonal abnormalities.Colonic mucosa and bone marrow biopsy tissues were negative for Highman Congo red staining.The patient was finally diagnosed with PCM.CONCLUSION A diagnosis of PCM should be considered in older patients with pleural effusion,ascites,and multi-organ injury.

Pulmonary Edema and Pleural Effusion Detection Using Efficient Net-V1-B4 Architecture and AdamW Optimizer from Chest X-Rays Images

This paper presents a novelmulticlass systemdesigned to detect pleural effusion and pulmonary edema on chest Xray images,addressing the critical need for early detection in healthcare.A new comprehensive dataset was formed by combining 28,309 samples from the ChestX-ray14,PadChest,and CheXpert databases,with 10,287,6022,and 12,000 samples representing Pleural Effusion,Pulmonary Edema,and Normal cases,respectively.Consequently,the preprocessing step involves applying the Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization(CLAHE)method to boost the local contrast of the X-ray samples,then resizing the images to 380×380 dimensions,followed by using the data augmentation technique.The classification task employs a deep learning model based on the EfficientNet-V1-B4 architecture and is trained using the AdamW optimizer.The proposed multiclass system achieved an accuracy(ACC)of 98.3%,recall of 98.3%,precision of 98.7%,and F1-score of 98.7%.Moreover,the robustness of the model was revealed by the Receiver Operating Characteristic(ROC)analysis,which demonstrated an Area Under the Curve(AUC)of 1.00 for edema and normal cases and 0.99 for effusion.The experimental results demonstrate the superiority of the proposedmulti-class system,which has the potential to assist clinicians in timely and accurate diagnosis,leading to improved patient outcomes.Notably,ablation-CAM visualization at the last convolutional layer portrayed further enhanced diagnostic capabilities with heat maps on X-ray images,which will aid clinicians in interpreting and localizing abnormalities more effectively.

Malignant pleural mesothelioma:The disdained member of thoracic oncology!

Pleural mesothelioma is a very aggressive malignancy that arises from the pleural mesothelial cell lining and is linked strongly to prior asbestos exposure.The ban on asbestos has helped to lower the incidence,but in developing countries like India,it is expected to rise.It has an extended latency period usually progressing over decades and presents with nonspecific symptoms.It has a median survival ranging between 10-22 months.The diagnosis of malignant pleural mesothelioma is challenging and is done using computed tomography(CT),magnetic resonance imaging,or positron emission tomography-CT,with the last two predicting the resectability of the tumor better than CT alone.A pleural biopsy along with an array of immunohistochemical markers,such as p16,BRCA1 associated protein 1,and claudin-4,are required for a definitive diagnosis.Several genetic alterations have prognostic significance as well.The current histological subtype identification is indispensable for decision making because of the new therapeutic avenues being explored.The combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab-based immunotherapy outperformed platinum and pemetrexed-based chemotherapy in terms of survival benefit and improved quality of life especially for non-epithelioid subtypes.However,the latter continues to be a robust treatment option for patients with the epithelioid subtype.Surgery is recommended for resectable cases with radiotherapy being indicated in neoadjuvant,adjuvant,and palliative settings along with systemic treatment.This review article provides an overview of epidemiology,etiology,clinical manifestations,diagnostic approaches(including immunohistochemical and genetic markers),staging,and multidisciplinary approaches to current treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma using surgery,chemotherapy,immunotherapy,and radiotherapy.It also sheds light on some recent studies(EMPHACIS,CALGB30901,Checkmate-743,etc.)that have led to significant developments in recent years with clinically meaningful results.

Pleural effusion in critically ill patients and intensive care setting

Pleural effusion usually causes a diagnostic dilemma with a long list of differential diagnoses.Many studies found a high prevalence of pleural effusions in critically ill and mechanically ventilated patients,with a wide range of variable prevalence rates of up to 50%-60%in some studies.This review emphasizes the importance of pleural effusion diagnosis and management in patients admitted to the intensive care unit(ICU).The original disease that caused pleural effusion can be the exact cause of ICU admission.There is an impairment in the pleural fluid turnover and cycling in critically ill and mechanically ventilated patients.There are also many difficulties in diagnosing pleural effusion in the ICU,including clinical,radiological,and even laboratory difficulties.These difficulties are due to unusual presentation,inability to undergo some diagnostic procedures,and heterogenous results of some of the performed tests.Pleural effusion can affect the patient’s outcome and prognosis due to the hemodynamics and lung mechanics changes in these patients,who usually have frequent comorbidities.Similarly,pleural effusion drainage can modify the ICUadmitted patient’s outcome.Finally,pleural effusion analysis can change the original diagnosis in some cases and redirect the management toward a different way.

Clinical profile,etiology,management and outcome of empyema thoracis associated with COVID-19 infection:A systematic review of published case reports

Objective:To explore the clinical features,diagnosis,etiology,treatment,and outcomes of COVID-19 related empyema.Methods:Using PRISMA statement,a systematic search of relevant case reports published between December 2019 and April 2023 was performed through seven databases.The collected data included demographics,clinical manifestations,diagnostic findings,treatment,and outcomes.Results:Thirty-six case reports were identified with 43 cases of empyema.The included cases had a median age of 55 years(range:12-78 years)and 79.1%(34/43)were males.The majority of cases presented during hospitalization for management of acute COVID-19 infection(29/43,67.4%)and Charlson comorbidity index<3(40/43,93.0%).Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the most commonly isolated microorganism from the pleural fluid(9/43,20.9%)and 16.3%of the cases(7/43)had polymicrobial infections.Chest drainage was performed in all cases while surgery was indicated in 24 cases(55.8%).The most common complication of COVID-19-related empyema was broncho-pleural fistula(2/43,4.7%).The mortality rate was 23.3%(10/43).Sepsis and/or multi-organ failure were the most commonly reported causes of death.On univariate analysis,no statistically significant risk factor for mortality was identified.Conclusions:COVID-19-associated empyema has a variety of predisposing factors,time of presentation,clinical features,and causative organisms.Invasive or minimally invasive surgical procedures are performed more frequently than isolated chest drainage.Empyema in COVID-19 patients worsens their prognosis and can lead to serious complications.

Pleural Fluid Alkaline Phosphate Levels to Differentiate between Tuberculosis and Malignant Pleural Effusion a Tertiary Care Experience

Introduction: Pleural effusion (PF) is a common clinical presentation in several diseases. Tuberculosis is one of the most frequent causes of exudative pleural effusions in immunocompetent patients. Tuberculosis is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality from an infectious disease in developing countries. Pakistan is ranked fifth in the world in terms of tuberculosis high-burden countries. Various pleural fluid parameters have been used to identify the cause of pleural effusion. It has been discovered that tuberculous pleural effusions had a greater alkaline phosphatase (ALP) concentration than transudative effusions. This study used pleural fluid alkaline phosphatase levels to distinguish between tuberculous pleural effusion and malignant pleural effusion because there is little information from tuberculosis-high burden nations like Pakistan. Study Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study conducted at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center in Karachi between October 2016 and October 2017. Material and Methods: The study comprised all patients who were admitted to the department of chest medicine at Jinnah post graduate medical centre (JPMC) of either gender between the ages of 18 and 70 who had exudative lymphocytic pleural effusions lasting two weeks or more included in the study. Non probability consecutive sampling was used to collect data. Patients who have tonsillitis, pharyngitis, pneumonia, asthma, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), or a history of hemoptysis, Bleeding disorders like, platelet function disorder, thrombocytopenia, Liver cirrhosis and Pregnant women were excluded. Parents’ informed consent was obtained after being informed of the study’s protocol, hazards, and advantages. Each patient had their level of pleural fluid alkaline phosphate (PALP) assessed. In order to evaluate the patient’s pleural effusion, a pre-made questionnaire was used. All the collected data were entered into the SPSS 20. An independent sample t-test was used to recognize alkaline phosphate levels association with pleural fluid secondary to tuberculosis or malignancy. Results: In this Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study, the total of 156 patients with age Mean ± SD of was 41.96 ± 17.05 years. The majority of patients 110 (70.5%) were male and 46 (29.5%) were female. Advanced age was associated with raised pleural fluid alkaline phosphatase. The difference of pleural fluid alkaline phosphate level between tuberculous v/s malignant group was found to be (38.03 ± 45.97) v/s (82.77 ± 61.80) respectively with P-value (P = 0.0001). Conclusion: Malignant pleural effusions had elevated PALP when compared to tuberculous pleural effusions in exudative lymphocytic pleural effusions;better differences are seen in older ages and shorter disease durations.

Development of subdural empyema from subdural effusion after suppurative encephalitis:A case report

BACKGROUND Chronic subdural effusion is very common in the cranial imaging of middle-aged and older people.Herein,we report a patient misdiagnosed with subdural effusion,who was eventually diagnosed with chronic subdural empyema(SDE)caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae.CASE SUMMARY A 63-year-old man was brought to our emergency room with a headache,vomiting,and disturbed consciousness.Computed tomography(CT)revealed a bilateral subdural effusion at the top left side of the frontal lobe.Cerebrospinal fluid examination after lumbar puncture indicated suppurative meningitis,which improved after anti-infective therapy.However,the patient then presented with acute cognitive dysfunction and right limb paralysis.Repeat CT showed an increase in left frontoparietal subdural effusion,disappearance of the left lateral ventricle,and a shift of the midline to the right.Urgent burr hole drainage showed SDE that was culture-positive for Streptococcus pneumoniae.His condition improved after adequate drainage and antibiotic treatment.CONCLUSION Patients with unexplained subdural effusion,especially asymmetric subdural effusion with intracranial infection,should be assessed for chronic SDE.Early surgical treatment may be beneficial.

Metagenomic next-generation sequencing for pleural effusions induced by viral pleurisy:A case report

BACKGROUND Viral pleurisy is a viral infected disease with exudative pleural effusions.It is one of the causes for pleural effusions.Because of the difficult etiology diagnosis,clinically pleural effusions tend to be misdiagnosed as tuberculous pleurisy or idiopathic pleural effusion.Here,we report a case of pleural effusion secondary to viral pleurisy which is driven by infection with epstein-barr virus.Viral infection was identified by metagenomic next-generation sequencing(mNGS).CASE SUMMARY A 40-year-old male with a history of dermatomyositis,rheumatoid arthritis,and secondary interstitial pneumonia was administered with long-term oral prednisone.He presented with fever and chest pain after exposure to cold,accompanied by generalized sore and weakness,night sweat,occasional cough,and few sputums.The computed tomography scan showed bilateral pleural effusions and atelectasis of the partial right lower lobe was revealed.The pleural fluids were found to be yellow and slightly turbid after pleural catheterization.Thoracoscopy showed fibrous adhesion and auto-pleurodesis.Combining the results in pleural fluid analysis and mNGS,the patient was diagnosed as viral pleuritis.After receiving Aciclovir,the symptoms and signs of the patient were relieved.CONCLUSION Viral infection should be considered in cases of idiopathic pleural effusion unexplained by routine examination.mNGS is helpful for diagnosis.

Ultrasound Value in the Management of Parapneumonic Pleural Effusions in a Limited-Resource Setting: A Case Report

Pleural effusion is a common complication of acute lung infection, with rising morbidity and mortality. If poorly treated, parapneumonic effusion evolves to the fibrino-purulent stage wherein antibiotic therapy alone becomes inadequate. Chest CT is the gold standard diagnostic imaging tool, however, in a resource-limited context, it may not be performed. Chest ultrasound can therefore be an alternative for drainage and intermittent follow-up of complicated parapneumonic pleural effusions. We report the case of a 4-year-old child who presented with cough, breathing difficulties and fever for over two weeks and in whom an initial chest X-ray revealed a left hemithorax white-out with an air-fluid level. Chest ultrasound revealed a left pleuropulmonary massive fluid collection with an encysted empyema. It also allowed ultrasound-guided pleural effusion drainage of a fibrino-purulent liquid which tested positive for Kocuria kristinae, a bacterium sensitive to gentamycin, vancomycin, norfloxacin and clindamycin. The next follow-up ultrasound checks showed improvement and the control chest X-ray performed one month later demonstrated pulmonary functional recovery. This case highlights the importance of ultrasound in the management and follow-up of this chest pathology in resource-limited settings.

A Pleural Effusion Secondary to Unusual Dual Pathology: A Case Report

Pleural effusion is a commonly encountered respiratory disorder. In the majority of cases, a single causative agent is responsible. Pleural effusions resulting from simultaneous involvement of the membranes by two different pathologic processes are unusual.