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Wednesday, 02/09/2011
Distribution of aetiologies according to severity scores revealed corresponding patterns in Community Acquired Pneumonia patients
Reveals the latest study on aetiology of Community Acquired Pneumonia that has been published in Thorax
This is the first study on aetiology of Community Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) by severity scores and gives an important perspective of what microorganisms are correspond to each severity class in the last 12 years, in a population of 3.523 CAP patients. The present work has been carried out by the doctoral researcher Catia Cilloniz and it is part of her doctoral thesis directed by Prof. Torres.
The results point out that the ranking of aetiologies varied according to site of care, with increasing frequency of Streptococcus pneumoniae and mixed aetiologies and decreasing frequency of atypical pathogens in hospitalized and intensive care units. Distribution of aetiologies according to severity scores revealed corresponding patterns; however, severity scores were more sensitive with regards to Gram-negative enteric bacilli (GNEB) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and less sensitive in identifying mixed aetiologies as moderate and high-risk aetiologies.
In conclusion, this work, published on Thorax (article), shows that the distribution of aetiologies according to severity scores revealed corresponding patterns and that are more sensitive in identifying patients with GNEB and Pseudomonas aeruginosa as moderate and high risk aetiologies whereas mixed aetiologies may be underestimated.