A 45 year old man presents with 2 weeks of worsening fever, pleuritic chest pain and malaise.
Describe and interpret this CXR
CHEST X-RAY INTERPRETATION
There is a multiloculated pleural effusion on the right side.
Left side is normal.
CLINICAL CORRELATION
This is likely to be pleural empyema.
IV antibiotics, further imaging and a chest drain are required.
CLINICAL PEARLS
Pleural drainage is definitely required with a chest tube.
It is not certain that a large bore drain is required – smaller e.g. 14-16F drains may be adequate with regular saline flushes to keep them patent.
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