A case of Propionibacterium acnes empyema treated with thoracoscopic decortication
Yutaka Takahara Saki Matsuura Kouichi Yamamura Takashi Sakuma Kazuaki Nishiki Shiro Mizuno
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kanazawa Medical University
A 31-year-old woman suffering from executive dysfunction was receiving treatment at home. In early July 20XX, she was admitted to a nearby clinic because of fever. Chest radiograph showed the presence of pleural effusion in her left thoracic cavity. She was diagnosed with empyema and started antibiotic treatment with thoracic cavity drainage. However, the drainage had no effect on her disease state. Thoracoscopic decortication under general anesthesia was performed on the third hospital day. After the surgery, she made a good recovery. P. acnes was detected from cultures both of pleural fluid and pleural tissue specimens, so we diagnosed that the causative microorganism of her empyema was P. acnes. We report an extremely rare case of empyema caused by P. acnes in a patient without compromised immunity.
Propionibacterium acnes Empyema Thoracoscopic decortication
Received 18 Jan 2019 / Accepted 7 May 2019
AJRS, 8(4): 250-254, 2019