Background: Over 1 million patients are hospitalized in the United States yearly for pneumonia, of which 40% develop parapneumonic effusion. Left untreated, these effusions can progress to complex effusions requiring more invasive treatment, including tube thoracostomy and surgical decortication, increasing hospital length of stay and overall morbidity. In patients with complex parapneumonic effusion, intrapleural lytic [...]

Case Presentation: A 39-year-old Hispanic female, with no significant past medical history presented with complaints of fever, chills, myalgia, and cough ongoing for the past 10 days. The patient had a heart rate of 143 beats per minute, a Temperature of 103.4° F, and a respiratory rate of 33. The patient had a WBC count [...]

Case Presentation: A 77-year-old male with past medical history of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, stroke, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and obstructive hydrocephalus status post ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VPS) placement presented with altered mental status and fever. A CT head showed worsening hydrocephalus. VPS was aspirated, fluid was non-infectious. Patient was empirically treated with vancomycin and zosyn for presumed sepsis. His [...]