Validity of pneumonia severity index and CURB-65 severity scoring systems in community acquired pneumonia in an indian setting.

Background. Little information is available from India regarding prognostic factors in patients with community acquired pneumonia (CAP). Methods. Hospital-based prospective study to test the validity of pneumonia severity index (PSI) and the confusion, urea, respiratory rate, blood pressure, age over 65 years (CURB-65) risk scoring systems in patients with CAP (n=150). Results. Although both CURB-65 class ³III and PSI class ³IV were 100% sensitive in predicting death, CURB-65 class ³III had a higher specificity (74.6%) than PSI class ³IV (52.2%) when used to predict death. In both PSI and CURB-65 risk scoring systems, mortality rate, need for intensive care unit (ICU) admission, prolonged need for intravenous (I.V.) antibiotics, prolonged duration of hospital stay and need for admission to ICU increased progressively with increasing scores. The PSI class ³IV was more sensitive in predicting ICU admission than CURB-65. The duration of hospital stay was found to have a weak but significant correlation with PSI and CURB-65 criteria. Defervescence time also had a very weak but significant correlation with PSI and CURB-65 criteria. Duration of I.V. antibiotics had a moderately strong correlation with CURB-65 criteria but a weak correlation with PSI criteria. Conclusions. Both PSI and CURB-65 were found to have equal sensitivity to predict death from CAP. Specificity of CURB- 65 was higher than that of PSI. However, PSI was more sensitive in predicting ICU admission than CURB-65.

Neumonía grave del adulto adquirida en la comunidad / Severe community-acquired pneumonia in adults

Patients with severe community acquired pneumonia (CAP) need continuous surveillance and monitoring at intensive care units (ICU), where they can receive specialized support as mechanical ventilation and/or hemodynamic support. Patients that require ICU admittance represent 10 to 30% of all patients interned because a pneumonia. In this category, high complication rate, prolonged hospital stay and high mortality rate are the rule. The American Thoracic Society (ATS) criteria for severe pneumonia establishes the following main criteria: necessity of mechanical ventilation and presence of septic shock; minor criteria: systolic blood pressure < 90 mmHg, radiological multilobar involvement and PaO2/FiO2 < 250 mmHg. British Thoracic Society (BTS) criteria for severe CAP are: respiratory rate over 30 breaths/min, diastolic blood pressure under 60 mmHg, BUN > 20 mg/dl and mental confusion. In all patients with CAP it is recommended the evaluation of its severity at admission. This evaluation should be done in conjunction with an experienced physician, and if criteria for poor prognosis are met, an early admission to ICU is recommended. ATS and BTS modified criteria (CURB) are useful in this procedure. In severely ill patients with CAP it is recommended to perform the following microbiological analysis: sputum Gram stain and culture, blood culture, pleural fluid Gram stain and culture, if present and tapped, Legionella pneumophila urine antigen test, influenza A and B antigen detection tests (epidemic period: autumn and winter), and serology for atypical bacteria (Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Chlamydia pneumoniae).

El paciente con neumonía grave adquirida en la comunidad es aquel que necesita de la vigilancia y monitorización de una Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos (UCI) donde, si es necesario, puede recibir apoyo especializado con conexión a un ventilador mecánico y/o soporte hemodinámico. Los pacientes que requieren tratamiento en la UCI representan entre 10 y 30% de los pacientes hospitalizados por neumonía. En esta categoría, la tasa de complicaciones, estadía en el hospital y mortalidad son elevadas. Los criterios para neumonía grave de la Sociedad Americana de Tórax (American Thoracic Society-ATS) son: criterios mayores: necesidad de ventilación mecánica y presencia de shock séptico; criterios menores: presión sistólica < 90 mmHg, compromiso radiográfico multilobar y PaO2/FiO2 < 250 mmHg. Los criterios para NAC grave de la Sociedad Británica de Tórax (British Thoracic Society-BTS) son: frecuencia respiratoria mayor de 30 resp/min, presión diastólica menor de 60 mmHg, nitrógeno ureico > 20 mg/dl y confusión mental. En todos los pacientes con neumonía adquirida en la comunidad se recomienda evaluar la gravedad de la infección en el momento de su admisión al hospital. Esta evaluación es preferible realizarla junto a un médico con experiencia y, si presenta criterios de mal pronóstico, se sugiere trasladar precozmente a la UCI. Son útiles para esta evaluación los criterios de la ATS y los criterios de la BTS modificados (CURB). En los pacientes con neumonía grave adquirida en la comunidad se recomienda solicitar los siguientes exámenes microbiológicos: tinción de Gram y cultivo de expectoración, hemocultivos, tinción de Gram y cultivo de líquido pleural, antígeno urinario de Legionella pneumophila, antígenos de virus influenza A y B (período epidémico de otoño-invierno), y serología para microorganismos atípicos (Mycoplasma pneumoniae y Chlamydia pneumoniae).

Diseño de un índice pronóstico clinico para el manejo de la neumonía del adulto adquirida en la comunidad / Development of an instrument to assess the severity of community acquired pneumonia among hospitalized patients

BACKGROUND: Community acquired pneumonia (CAP) severity assessment is crucial. AIM: To develop a practical clinical severity assessment model for stratifying immunocompetent adult patients hospitalized with CAP into different management groups. PATIENTS AND METHODS: During a 24 months period, 455 adult patients (250 male, mean age 69 +/- 19 years old) were evaluated. All the relevant clinical information recorded and they were followed during hospital stay until discharge or death. Mortality until 30 days after admission was determined. RESULTS: The mean hospital length of stay was 9.9 +/- 9.4 days and 76% had an underlying disease. In hospital mortality was 7.6% and 10.1% at 30 days follow up. Admission prognostic factors associated with high mortality at 30 days follow up were: advanced age, presence of comorbidity, suspicion of aspiration, duration of symptoms < or = 2 days, altered mental status, absence of cough, fever and cbills, low blood pressure, tachypnea, hypoxemia and multilobar radiographic pulmonary infiltrates. A clinical prognostic index derived from a logistic regression analysis including five independent variables associated with mortality (confuson, comorbidity, low systolic blood pressure, temperature < 37.5 degrees C and respiratory rate > 20/min), enabled patients to be stratified according to increasing risk of mortality: class 1: 0.9%, class 2: 4.9%, class 3: 14.2%, and class 4: 35.6%. CONCLUSION: A simple clinical severity assessment tool based on confusion, comorbidity, blood pressure, temperature and respiratory rate could be used to stratify patients with CAP into different risk class categories and management groups.

Reglas de predicción en neumonía adquirida en la comunidad / Prediction rules in community acquired pneumonia

The determination of site of care is an essential decision in the management of patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Patients with mild to moderate CAP may be safely treated at home. Instead, those patients with severe pneumonia must be hospitalized to assure an effective treatment. Severity of CAP is associated with mortality that depends both on the patient's frailty and the intensity of lung inflammation. Because there is no single predictor factor to assess prognosis, diverse prediction rules have been developed to establish severity of CAP and guide the decision of site of care. In our country a new prediction rule, derived from hospitalized patents that incorporate simple clinical variables has been developed. However, this rule requires to be validated in the ambulatory setting before its wide spread use is suggested. Prediction rules are objective and relatively accurate models to assess prognosis that may aid clinicians to evaluate patient's risks and to improve hospitalization decisions. Nevertheless, although the prediction rules may guide the initial management of patients with CAP, they are not intended to replace the clinical judgment, which remains as the art of medicine.

El uso de la radiografía de tórax para la vigilancia de neumonías bacterianas en niños latinoamericanos / The use of chest X-rays for surveillance of bacterial pneumonias in children in Latin America

La División de Vacunas e Inmunización de la Organización Panamericana de la Salud (OPS) está promoviendo la vigilancia epidemiológica de neumonías bacterianas en niños latinoamericanos, con el objetivo de generar pruebas científicas que sustenten futuras decisiones de control mediante vacunas en los países de la Región. Como es poco frecuente que el diagnóstico de estas enfermedades abarque la documentación bacteriológica del agente causal, los estudios de este tipo que se realizan en el mundo aceptan la imagen radiológica de consolidación alveolar como criterio confirmatorio de una neumonía presuntamente bacteriana. En este informe se examinan la racionalidad teórica y los requisitos necesarios para utilizar la radiología de tórax como instrumento para la vigilancia epidemiológica de neumonías bacterianas. Además, se ofrece un resumen de las actividades realizadas en dos años de trabajo conjunto entre el Centro para Vacunas en Desarrollo, en Chile, y la División de Vacunas e Inmunización de la OPS. Durante ese período se fomentó el estudio epidemiológico de las neumonías bacterianas en niños latinoamericanos utilizando los criterios y definiciones acordados a escala internacional, así como herramientas y soluciones prácticas ajustadas a la realidad de la Región. Las actividades desarrolladas hasta ahora evidencian la necesidad y factibilidad de estandarizar la interpretación de las radiografías de tórax para utilizarlas en estudios epidemiológicos

Neumonía comunitaria severa: diagnóstico, pronóstico y pautas terapéuticas / Community acquired pneumonia: diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutic guidelines

Neumonía comunitaria es una enfermedad vista en todas las edades y que demanda importantes recursos de salud. La mortalidad promedio es de 13 por ciento que llega al 50 por ciento en los pacientes de las unidades críticas a pesar de la importante navegación, más del 50 por ciento de los casos queda sin resolver su real agente patógeno, y en las décadas pasadas se han tratado de uniformar su manejo, se han propuesto en cambio en la clasificación de la neumonía típica y atípica debido a la poca utilidad de algunas. Además que consideran los problemas de edad, riesgo y patología asociada. El Streptococo neumonía sigue siendo el germen más permanente. El presente artículo revisa los factores de mayor riesgo asociado a la evolución de la neumonía