ETIOLOGIC DIAGNOSIS OF INTRAPLEURAL EMPYEMA BY COUNTERIMMUNOELECTROPHORESIS

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Abstract
Cultural methods failed to identify the infecting organism in 4 patients with intrapleural empyema. Antimicrobial drugs were administered to 3 of the patients before their admission to the hospital. In each case, soluble polysaccharides believed to be those of pneumococcus or Haemo philus were detected in the empyema fluid by counterimmunoelectrophoresis [CIE]. These findings provided a rational basis for management of antimicrobial therapy for 3 of the patients and useful information on the origins of the empyrema in the 4th patient. CIE is useful for presumptively identifying the infecting organism in patients with intrapleural empyema.

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