PARAPNEUMONIC EMPYEMA

The term"pleuresie parapneumonique"was first proposed by Lemoine1in 1893, to describe the occurrence of fluid in the pleural cavity coincident with pneumonia. He pointed out the fact that the occurrence of fluid in the chest during the early part of an attack of pneumonia is more frequent than is generally supposed, occurring in possibly five to six per cent. (Grisale, 12.6 per cent.; Deustl, 16 per cent.; Fismer, 15 per cent.; Magnus Hus, and Jugenser, 4 or 5 per cent.). He further states that the fluid of parapneumonic pleurisy is always serous, while that of metapneumonic pleurisy, that following the crisis, is always purulent. Le Damnay2in a thesis on pleurisies, in 1897, also calls attention to the occurrence of fluid in the thoracic cavity coincident with pneumonia, and gives histories of four such cases. Since these researches a large number of cases of parapneumonic pleurisy