In a case series of 152 children aged from 2 to 132 months will pleural emphema from a paediatric tertiary hospital in Luanda, Angola between September 2004 and March 2005, the authors found a high prevalence of anaemia and malnutrition. The most prevalent bacteria in pleural fluid were: D pneumoniae, Haemophyllus and S aureus. The median for hospital stay was 25 days. The lethality was 7.8% and was not statistically associated with malnutrition, although this variable was associated, in multivariate analysis, with prolonged hospitalization time.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
SazawalR, BlackRE. Meta-analysis of intervention trials on case-management of pneumonia in community settings. Lancet1992;340:528–32
2.
BenguiguiY, BossioJC, FernandesHR. PAHO, WHO: Investigacciones operativas sobre Atencion Integrada a las Enfermidades Prevalecentes de la Infancia (AIEPI). Washington, DC: OPAS; OMS, 2001:642(Series HCT/AIEPI-27. E)
3.
ChanW, Keyser-GauvinE, DaviesGM, NguyenLT, LabergJM. Empyema thoraces in children: a 26-year review of the Montreal children's hospital experience. J Pediatr Surg1997;32:870–2
4.
SchultzKD, FanLL, PinskyJBA, The changing face of pleural empyemas in children: epidemiology and management. Pediatrics2004;113:1735–40
5.
EasthamKM, FreemanR, KearnsAM, Clinical features, aetiology and outcome of empyema in the North East of England. Thorax2004;56:522–5
6.
FontanetAL, MccauleyRGK, CoytteY, LarchiverF, BennishML. Incidence, management, and outcome of childhood empyema. A prospective study of children in Cambodian refugee camps. Am J Trop Med Hyg1993;49:789–98
7.
CirinoLMI, GomesFMS, BatistaBN. The etiology of extensive pleural effusions with troublesome clinical course among children. Sao Paulo Med J2004;122:269–72
8.
MtetaKA. Thoracic empyema in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. East Afr Med J1994;71:684–6
9.
SantoVE, SilvaAJA. Analise de 400 casos de pleural empyema em crianças dos zero aos 8 anos. Acta Med Ang1983;2:37–42
10.
BaranwalAK, SinghM, MarwahaRK, KumarL. Empyema thoracis: a 10-year comparative review of hospitalized children from South Asia. Arch Dis Child2003;88:1009–14
