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Background and Objectives: Pleural infection is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among adults. Identification of the offending organism is key to appropriate antimicrobial therapy. It is not known whether the microbiological pattern of pleural infection is variable temporally or geographically. This systematic review aimed to investigate available literature to understand the worldwide pattern of microbiology and the factors that might affect such pattern., Data Sources and Eligibility Criteria: Ovid MEDLINE and Embase were searched between 2000 and 2018 for publications that reported on the microbiology of pleural infection in adults. Both observational and interventional studies were included. Studies were excluded if the main focus of the report was paediatric population, tuberculous empyema or post-operative empyema., Study Appraisal and Synthesis Methods: Studies of ≥20 patients with clear reporting of microbial isolates were included. The numbers of isolates of each specific organism/group were collated from the included studies. Besides the overall presentation of data, subgroup analyses by geographical distribution, infection setting (community versus hospital) and time of the report were performed., Results: From 20 980 reports returned by the initial search, 75 articles reporting on 10 241 patients were included in the data synthesis. The most common organism reported worldwide was Staphylococcus aureus . Geographically, pneumococci and viridans streptococci were the most commonly reported isolates from tropical and temperate regions, respectively. The microbiological pattern was considerably different between community- and hospital-acquired infections, where more Gram-negative and drug-resistant isolates were reported in the hospital-acquired infections. The main limitations of this systematic review were the heterogeneity in the method of reporting of certain bacteria and the predominance of reports from Europe and South East Asia., Conclusions: In pleural infection, the geographical location and the setting of infection have considerable bearing on the expected causative organisms. This should be reflected in the choice of empirical antimicrobial treatment., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: M. Hassan has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: T. Cargill has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: E. Harriss has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: R. Asciak has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: R.M. Mercer has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: E.O. Bedawi has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: D.J. McCracken has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: I. Psallidas has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: J.P. Corcoran has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: N.M. Rahman has nothing to disclose., (Copyright ©ERS 2019.)

Background: Pleural infection remains an important cause of mortality. This study aimed to investigate worldwide patterns of pre-existing comorbidities and clinical outcomes of patients with pleural infection., Methods: Studies reporting on adults with pleural infection between 2000 and 2017 were identified from a search of Embase and MEDLINE. Articles reporting exclusively on tuberculous, fungal or post-pneumonectomy infection were excluded. Two reviewers assessed 20 980 records for eligibility., Results: 211 studies met the inclusion criteria. 134 articles (227 898 patients, mean age 52.8 years) reported comorbidity and/or outcome data. The majority of studies were retrospective observational cohorts (n=104, 78%) and the most common region of reporting was East Asia (n=33, 24%) followed by North America (n=27, 20%). 85 articles (50 756 patients) reported comorbidity. The median (interquartile range (IQR)) percentage prevalence of any comorbidity was 72% (58-83%), with respiratory illness (20%, 16-32%) and cardiac illness (19%, 15-27%) most commonly reported. 125 papers (192 298 patients) reported outcome data. The median (IQR) length of stay was 19 days (13-27 days) and median in-hospital or 30-day mortality was 4% (IQR 1-11%). In regions with high-income economies (n=100, 74%) patients were older (mean 56.5 versus 42.5 years, p<0.0001), but there were no significant differences in prevalence of pre-existing comorbidity nor in length of hospital stay or mortality., Conclusion: Patients with pleural infection have high levels of comorbidity and long hospital stays. Most reported data are from high-income economy settings. Data from lower-income regions is needed to better understand regional trends and enable optimal resource provision going forward., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: T.N. Cargill has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: M. Hassan has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: J.P. Corcoran has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: E. Harriss has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: R. Asciak has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: R.M. Mercer has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: D.J. McCracken has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: E.O. Bedawi has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: N.M. Rahman has nothing to disclose., (Copyright ©ERS 2019.)