[The prognosis of the course of pleural empyema and pyopneumothorax]

Proteolytic and procoagulative activities of pleural exudate leukocytes and macrophages along with peripheral blood monocytes can serve an objective criterion in assessing the severity and predicting the course of inflammation in pyothorax (PT) and pyopneumothorax (PPT). A favourable outcome of PT and PPT is reported in high and normal proteolytic activity of leukocytes and in registration of procoagulative macrophage activity, in inhibited proteolytic activity of pleural exudate leukocytes, multidirectional effect on plasma macrophage coagulating activity, in the absence of procoagulative activity in blood monocytes. The prognosis is poor in inhibited proteolytic activity of pleural exudate leukocytes, anticoagulative macrophage activity and monocytic procoagulative activity.