Necrotising pneumonia or lung gangrene is a challenging problem and it is diagnosed more often today, especially in tertiary hospitals. It is always a challenge to treat these patients as they are usually immunocompromised and are often ill when the diagnosis is made. We report three immunocompromised patients with necrotising pneumonia who were treated surgically. We share the outcomes of these patients and discuss the management of necrotising pneumonia in the immunocompromised.
A 61-year-old male presented with community-onset pneumonia not responding to treatment despite given appropriate antibiotics. Computed tomography scan of the thorax showed large multiloculated pleural effusion with multiple cavitating foci within collapsed segments; lesions which were suggestive of necrotising pneumonia. Drainage of the effusion and culture revealed methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, which had the same antibiotic profile with the blood isolate and PVL gene positive.