After suffering a severe bout of pneumonia, a 46-year-old renal transplantation patient develops a lung abscess. She has been receiving immunosuppression therapy since her last kidney transplantation 3 years ago. What is the most appropriate treatment?

Antibiotics and vigorous attempts to obtain bronchial drainage will treat the abscess adequately in the majority of cases. Lung abscesses commonly are associated with aspiration pneumonia, where the abscess is found posteriorly. In the presence of an unexplained lung abscess, bronchoscopy is essential to exclude a foreign body or tumor that could cause bronchial obstruction.