Aerobic and Anaerobic Microbiology of Empyema: A Retrospective Review in Two Military Hospitals

Abstract

The microbiology and clinical features of empyema were studied retrospectively in 197 patients whose specimens yielded bacterial growth after inoculation for aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. Three hundred forty-three organisms (216 aerobic or facultative and 127 anaerobic organisms) were isolated. Aerobic bacteria were isolated in 127 (64 percent) patients, anaerobic bacteria in 25 (13 percent), and mixed aerobic and anaerobic bacteria in 45 (23 percent). The predominant aerobic or facultative organisms were <i>Streptococcus pneumoniae</i> (70 isolates), <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (58), <i>Escherichia coli</i> (17), <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> (16), and <i>Haemophilus influenzae</i> (12). The predominant anaerobes were pigmented Prevotella and Porphyromonas species (24), <i>Bacteroides fragilis</i> group (22), anaerobic cocci (36), and Fusobacterium species (20). β-Lactamase-producing organisms were recovered in 49 (38 percent) of 128 tested specimens. These included all 42 tested <i>S aureus</i> and 15 <i>B fragilis</i> group, 4 of 9 <i>K pneumoniae</i>, 3 of 9 <i>H influenzae</i>, 3 of 8 pigmented Prevotella and Porphyromonas species, and 2 of 6 <i>E coli</i>. Most patients from whom <i>S pneumoniae</i> and <i>H influenzae</i> were recovered had pneumonia, and most patients with <i>S aureus</i> had pneumonia, aspiration pneumonia, and lung abscesses. The recovery of anaerobic bacteria was mostly associated with the concomitant diagnosis of aspiration pneumonia, and lung, subdiaphragmatic, dental, and oropharyngeal abscesses. These data highlight the importance of anaerobic bacteria in selected cases of empyema.