title: Empyema complicating successful lung transplantation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the prevalence and etiology of empyema complicating successful lung transplantation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective review.
  
  
  METHODS
  University medical center transplant service.
  
  
  METHODS
  All recipients (n = 392) of single-lung, double-lung, and heart-lung transplantation between May 1984 and April 1997.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 392 transplant recipients, empyema was documented in 14 patients (3.6%) at a mean time (+/- SD) of 46 days after transplantation (range, 14 to 167 days). Of these 14 recipients with empyema, 4 recipients (28.6%) died of infectious complications related to empyema. Empyema was seen secondary to Gram-positive, Gram-negative, and saprophytic organisms; however, there was no predominance of a particular organism recovered from the empyemic fluid (chi2 = 0.53; p = 0.75). The development of empyema was not related to whether the transplant was performed secondary to a septic or nonseptic lung disorder (chi2 = 1.06; p = 0.67), nor was it related to the type of transplant procedure performed (ie, single-lung, double-lung, or heart-lung allografts; chi2 = 4.39; p = 0.30).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Empyema, a relatively uncommon complication of lung transplantation, is not related to the type of allograft received or to whether the recipient had a septic or a nonseptic lung disorder. If empyema does occur, the mortality associated with this infection is substantial.
authors.affiliation: Division of Transplantation Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA, USA. DDDNunley@aol.com
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Nunley
authors.forename: W F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Grgurich
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Keenan
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Dauber
mesh_terms: D016724:Empyema, Pleural / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D016041:Heart-Lung Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D016040:Lung Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors