Cargill TN, Hassan M, Corcoran JP, et al. - By analyzing 211 eligible studies identified from Embase and Medline, researchers analyzed global patterns of preexisting comorbidities and clinical results of patients with pleural infection. They excluded reports on tuberculous, fungal or post pneumonectomy infection. Comorbidity and/or outcome data was described in 134 papers (227,898 patients, mean age 52.8 years). Mostly, retrospective observational cohorts (n = 104, 78%) were identified. East Asia (n = 33, 24%) followed by North America (n = 27, 20%), was the most common region of reporting. Findings revealed high levels of comorbidity and long hospital stays in patients with pleural infection. Most of the data were from high-income economy settings. In order to gain a better understanding of regional trends and to allow optimal resource provision going forward, the requirement for data from lower-income regions was realized.