Abstract
Explosive pleuritis (EP) is an under-reported condition. Although there is no agreed-upon
definition, generally, the term EP denotes a dramatic clinical and radiologic progression
of pleural space inflammation in the setting of pneumonia. The pleural space inflammation
leads to the formation of loculated complex pleural effusion or empyema, and pleural
adhesion within a matter of hours, typically in less than 24 hours. Radiologically,
these changes are manifested as opacification of the hemithorax with or without contralateral
mediastinal shift. Streptococcal pneumonia is the most common cause of EP. Here we
present a case and discuss the clinical, microbiologic, radiologic, and treatment
aspects of EP. We also scrutinize the medical literature to compare the previously
reported cases.
Key Indexing Terms
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 08, 2022
Accepted:
December 3,
2021
Received:
December 24,
2020
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Southern Society for Clinical Investigation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
