Treatment approaches in severe acute viral bronchiolitis differ widely between a French and a German urban region.

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Mortality from pediatric septic shock in an urban area in Western Germany is high. Disease severity and treatment in a department with few cases were associated with increased mortality.

In experienced hands thoracic surgery yields excellent results for children suffering from pleural empyema stage II and III. Recent randomised prospective trials comparing fibrinolysis with VATS do not convince regarding the treatment protocols of their surgical arms. Fibrinolysis is nevertheless a valuable treatment in early stage II empyema, especially if thoracic surgical experience is not available. However, the further advanced the empyema presents, the sooner surgical experience should be gathered.