A clinical study was made of 109 cases of lung abscess who were treated as in-patients at the Chonju Presbyterian Medical Canter in past 10 years, from January 1970 to December 1979.
The results were as follows;
1. The ratio of male to female was 5.5：1. Most patients were in the age group between the third and fifth decades (60%).
2. The seasonal incidence in order of occurence was summer, winter, fall, and spring.
3. The most frequent location of lung abscess was right upper lobe (24.8%). The right lower lobe (21.1%), left upper lobe (19.2%), left lower lobe (16.5%), and right middle lobe (11.9%) were common sites in order of frequency. Multiple abscess was found in 7 cases.
4. The common clinical manifestations were cough, purulent sputum, fever and chill, chest pain, hemoptysis. and dyspnea in order of frequency.
5. The most common predisposing factor of lung abscess was pneumonia (49.5%). Pulmonary tuberculosis (12.8%), aspiration (4.6%), and bronchiectasis (3.7%) were found in order of frequency, and in 21.1% of cases, etiologic factor was uncertain.
6. Bacteriologic studies of the sputum culture showed alpha-Streptococcus (34.8%), Klebsiella (13.7%), Staphylococcus aureus (6.4%), and Enterobacter (5.5%) in order of frequency.
7. Most of the lung abscess cavities measured from 1 to 4㎝ in diameter (68.8%), and the cavities lesser than 1㎝ in diameter or larger than 6㎝ in diameter were quite rare.
8. There was no specific relationship between leukocytosis on admission and the prognosis of the disease.
9. The major causes of medical treatment failure were due to underlying lung diseases such as pulmonary tuberculosis, bronchiectasis, bronchogenic cyst and lung cancer.
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