During the preantibiotic era, lung abscess carried a high mortality, however, with the introduction of penicillin and subsequently other antibiotics, significant improvement was resulted. Clinical review was performed on 27 cases of lung abscess, those were admitted and treated at the Department. of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Chonbuk University Hospital, from 1979 to August, 1986. The following results were obtained. The most common age of occurrence was between the age of 40 and 60 [14 cases] and 22 cases were male patients. The common symptoms were cough, putrid sputum production, fever and chilliness. Numerous etiological factors may play a role in the formation of lung abscess; pneumonia [7 cases], aspiration [5 cases], bronchiectasis [2 cases], liver abscess [1 case] and broncholith [1 case]. The bacteriologic study revealed increased incidence of Enterobacteriaceae [15 cases]. The treatment methods were postural drainage [12 cases]. pneumonostomy [5 cases], lobectomy [8 cases], thoracostomy [2 cases].