STAPHYLOCOCCAL PNEUMONIA AND EMPYEMA

Forty-one cases of staphylococcal pneumonia, treated with sulfonamides, sulfonamides plus penicillin, and with aureomycin plus penicillin are described. Since characteristic bacteriologic findings are now uncommon, diagnosis of this condition depends on the presence of a typical clinical and roentgenologic picture, herein described. The mortality rate with sulfonamide treatment alone was 50%. The mortality rate in cases treated with sulfonamides and penicillin was 25%. With the introduction of aureomycin none of the 12 consecutive cases in this series died. Empyema treated with sulfonamides and penicillin often cleared with repeated aspiration alone or aspiration followed by instillation of penicillin into the pleural cavity. Cases of empyema treated with aureomycin plus penicillin seldom required paracentesis.