[Life expectancy and disability following pleural empyema]

The pleural empyema, e.g. postpneumonial or postoperative, has, in an acute state of being, to be treated before all by an aimed intensive puncture, irrigation, and drainage therapy. Removing the cause of the empyema you can expect a cure as a rule, but in certain cases an operative intervention is still necessary. The chronic empyema often needs a decortication for an operative correction. The trials of medical treatment being often conservative and the chronic intoxication most often cause a strong impairment of the general condition. A lot of other organic affections or damages reduce the chances of cure and increase lethality. The chronic empyema not available for an operative correction has, as a whole, a bad long-term prognosis with a high morbidality and lethality. The qualities of living of these patients are often reduced a lot.