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Almost all traumatic pulmonary pseudocysts (TPP), such as cavitary pulmonary lesions after blunt chest trauma, resolve spontaneously. On the contrary, secondary infection of a TPP should be considered in the presence of purulent sputum or hemosputum and a persistent cavity. We report a case of an infected TPP that was successfully treated by early surgical treatment. A 25-year-old man was transferred to our hospital with a TPP, shown by computed tomography (CT) as having a thick-walled large cavity, after the acute phase of blunt chest trauma. Purulent hemosputum suggested infection of the cavity. Serial CT scans of the chest revealed a persistent cavity. The thick-walled large cavity was diagnosed as a secondary infection of the TPP, that is, a potential lung abscess. We resected the cavity before a systemic inflammatory reaction occurred.

We report a case of 25-year-old male who presented with high grade fever with cough and expectoration. Chest examination revealed amphoric breath sounds on the right interscapular region. Chest X ray revealed multiple air fluid levels with collapse lung at places. Staph pneumonia with pneumatoceles is common in children but uncommon to in adult population.

A case of community acquired staphylococcal pneumonia is reported with the unusual complication, in an adult, of multiple pneumatoceles. Recognition of this prevented inappropriate management. The patient also developed the toxic shock syndrome. In contrast to infants with pneumatoceles, recovery of lung function has been poor.

A 33-year-old male with staphylococcal pneumonia who presented radiographically with multiple thin-walled pulmonary cavities (pneumatoceles) is reported. The cavities rapidly altered following treatment with antibiotics and the patient clinically improved.

One hundred and twenty cases of pneumatocoele, admitted, treated and followed-up at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital in 1981 are presented. Radiologically the pneumatocoele cases were associated with either the bronchopneumonic or lobar/segmental pattern of pneumonia. There were significant differences between these patterns in respect of the time of occurrence, size and number of pneumatocoeles and associated bacterial agents. The contribution of measles infection to the development of pneumatocoele is noted. Although the ultimate course of pneumatocoele was towards spontaneous resorption, the process was slow in most of our patients. This was attributed to the poor nutritional status of the majority of them.

Susceptibility to recurrent staphylococcal cutaneous and respiratory infections beginning in infancy associated with extreme hyperimmunoglobulinemia E is a recently described primary immunodeficiency syndrome. Other clinical features include depressed cellular immunity and deficient antibody formation. Recurrent pneumonia and cyst formation with variable persistence and expansion characterized the radiographic couse in 11 patients. Five cysts resolved with continuous antistaphylococcal therapy; 2 were resected without recurrence; and 4 persisted after surgery and/or antibiotics (2--8 years). The cysts had dense, necrotic surfaces with fibrous walls, eosinophilic and other inflammatory cell infiltrates, and frequent, persistent, bronchial connections. Sinusitis (9/9) and mastoiditis (3/4) were also observed radiographically.