Case presentation An 18-year-old female was presented to the hospital with left-sided chest pain, worsening shortness of breath, and no constitutional symptoms. Additionally, she was observed to have a large left-sided pleural effusion on the CT thorax and was thought to be parapneumonic. Physical examination and workup Clinical examination revealed she had an elevated white blood cell count of 15.4 x 109/L and a platelet count of 634 x 109/L. Further, an ultrasound revealed a multi-septate round extra parenchymal thoracic collection (Figure A and B).
Medications She was immediately started on antibiotic therapy of cephalexin and azithromycin. Early thoracentesis was carried out, and 800 ml of dark blood-tinged fluid was drained. Similarly, a 10.2 French Wayne pigtail catheter was inserted, and approximately 2 liters of fluid was drained. Based on the ultrasound report, what could be…
