• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• 제68권6호
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• pp.319-327
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• 2010

Pneumonia represents a spectrum of diseases that range from community-acquired to health care-associated pneumonia. Despite advances in diagnosis, antimicrobial therapy, and supportive care, pneumonia remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality, particularly in elderly patients and in those with significant comorbidities. Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is the leading cause of death from infectious disease in Korea. This article provides a synopsis of recent studies regarding various types of pneumonia, with a focus on CAP.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• 제70권3호
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• pp.224-234
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• 2011

Background: Little data is available regarding hospitalized patients with nursing home-acquired pneumonia (NHAP). This is unfortunate because there is an increasing number of elderly persons who are living in nursing homes in Korea. The aim of this study was to compare clinical characteristics and treatment responses of NHAP with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Methods: Patients with pneumonia who were admitted from eight nursing homes or from their own homes were enrolled between May 2007 and April 2009. Their clinical characteristics and treatment responses were reviewed retrospectively, and differences between the two groups were analyzed. Results: Of 110 Patients with pneumonia, 66 (60%) were from nursing homes and their median age was 84. In the NHAP group, functional performance status was significantly poorer, classical symptoms of pneumonia were less severe, and multi-lobe involvement (on chest radiographs) was more frequent than in the CAP group. Patients with NHAP more frequently showed lymphocytopenia, anemia, hypoalbuminemia, hypoxemia, and elevated blood urea nitrogen on admission. The mean CURB-65 score was 2.2 in the NHAP group, higher than 1.7 in the CAP group (p=0.004), and multi-drug resistant pathogens were also highly identified in NHAP group (39% vs. 10%, p=0.036). The mean duration of antibiotic therapy was greater for the NHAP (12.6 days) than for the CAP group (6.6 days) (p<0.001). The mortality rate was 23% in NHAP group, which was significantly higher than 5% in the CAP group (p=0.014). Conclusion: NHAP should be more intensively investigated because of the higher frequency of multi-drug resistant pathogens and mortality than the CAP.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• 제70권1호
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• pp.1-9
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• 2011

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a major cause of morbidity, of mortality, and of expenditure of medical resources. The etiology and antimicrobial susceptibility of CAP pathogens can differ by country. Treatment guidelines need to reflect the needs of individual countries based on pathogen susceptibility studies. Recent treatment guidelines for CAP in Korea were published by the Joint Committee of the Korean Academy of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases, the Korean Society for Chemotherapy, and the Korean Society of Infectious Diseases. In this article, the etiologies, diagnoses, treatments for CAP will be reviewed and compared to the recent published Korean guidelines for CAP treatment.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• 제83권2호
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• pp.147-156
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• 2020

Background: Limited studies have been performed to assess readmission following hospitalization for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in an Asian population. We evaluated the rates, reasons, and risk factors for 30-day readmission following hospitalization for CAP in the general adult population of Korea. Methods: We performed a retrospective observational study of 1,021 patients with CAP hospitalized at Yeungnam University from March 2012 to February 2014. The primary end point was all-cause hospital readmission within 30 days following discharge after the initial hospitalization. Hospital readmission was classified as pneumonia-related or pneumonia-unrelated readmission. Results: During the study period, 862 patients who survived to hospital discharge were eligible for inclusion and among them 72 (8.4%) were rehospitalized within 30 days. In the multivariable analysis, pneumonia-related readmission was associated with para/hemiplegia, malignancy, pneumonia severity index class ≥4 and clinical instability ≥1 at hospital discharge. Comorbidities such as chronic lung disease and chronic kidney disease, treatment failure, and decompensation of comorbidities were associated with the pneumonia-unrelated 30-day readmission rate. Conclusion: Rehospitalizations within 30 days following discharge were frequent among patients with CAP. The risk factors for pneumonia-related and -unrelated readmission were different. Aspiration prevention, discharge at the optimal time, and close monitoring of comorbidities may reduce the frequency of readmission among patients with CAP.

• 한국임상약학회지
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• 제16권2호
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• pp.81-85
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• 2006

Community acquired pneumonia(CAP) is the most prevalent disease among pneumonia patients and progressed to severe pneumonia. A retrospective study was performed to evaluate antibiotic regimens according to guidelines of Infectious Disease Society of America. From January to October 2005, chart review of 50 patients with CAP was peformed in terms of microbiology and laboratory data of each regimen. Temperature, WBC count, ALT, AST and alkaline phosphatase of each patient were examined for liver toxicity. In three patients received levofloxacin appeared to have normalized temperature and improved cough. The patients who received cefmetazole -aminoglycoside appeared to have worsen LFT(Liver function test). Many patients in flomoxef-aminoglycoside group received mechanical ventilation because of the basis diseases like tuberculosis, diabetes mellitus and hypertension. In conclusion, antibiotic therapy for the treatment of CAP should be selected according to tolerance, bacteria and severity of disease.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• 제75권2호
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• pp.75-78
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• 2013

Methcillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has emerged as an important cause of community-acquired infections, which has been recently designated as community-associated (CA) MRSA. Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL)-negative multilocus sequence type 72 (ST72)-staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) type IV has been reported as the predominat CA-MRSA strain in Korea and is commonly associated with skin and soft tissue infections in addition to healthcare-associated pneumonia. However, community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) for this strain has not yet been reported. We hereby report two cases of CAP caused by PVL-negative ST72-SCCmec type IV strain in patients who had no risk factors for MRSA acquisition. While CA-MRSA infections are not yet prevalent in Korea, our cases suggest that CA-MRSA should be considered in cases of severe CAP, especially for cases associated with necrotizing pneumonia.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• 제67권5호
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• pp.430-435
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• 2009

Background: Thus far, research studies on community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) have focused on its clinical severity. Recently, it has been determined that procalcitonin (PCT) level is correlated with severity of CAP. A retrospective study conducted at our hospital used risk predictability and PCT to determine whether or no PCT is useful in assessing the severity of CAP. Methods: This study covered 92 CAP cases that were admitted to the respiratory department at Changwon Fatima Hospital between July 1, 2008 and June 30, 2009. All enrolled subjects were measured for infection markers and risk predictability. Results: Based on hospital admission data, enrolled subjects had Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI) scores serving as risk predictors showed that both PCT and white blood cell (WBC) were statistically significant as infection markers (p=0.001, 0.037). Thus, this study used ROC curves in PSI for data analysis. As a result, it was determined that the area under curve (AUC) of PCT and WBC was 0.694 and 0.593 respectively, indicating that PCT has a higher test value for WBC, when PCT was higher than 0.745 ng/mL. In addition, it was found that PCT levels higher than 0.745 ng/mL had higher PSI scores than the group with PCT lower than 0.745 ng/mL (p=0.032). Conclusion: In order to predict risk of pneumonia cases admitted due to symptoms of CAP, it is important to consider PCT as well as PSI, and follow-up monitoring of PCT cases.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• 제81권3호
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• pp.175-186
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• 2018

Pneumonia is an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Since 2014, the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) has assessed the overall quality of care among hospitalized adult patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) provided by all medical institutions in Korea. A committee of the Korea Academy of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases developed the hospital inpatient quality measures set for CAP consisting of eight core measures and five monitoring measures. The composite measure score was calculated. The medical records of hospitalized adult patients ages 18 years or more with CAP from October to December 2014 were evaluated. The data of 523 hospitals (42 tertiary hospitals [8.0%], 256 general hospitals [49%], and 225 hospitals [43.0%]) and 15,432 cases (tertiary hospitals, 1,673 cases [10.8%]; general hospitals, 8,803 cases [57.1%]; hospitals, 4,956 cases [32.1%]) were analyzed. We found large variations among institutions in terms of performance of care measures for CAP. For the composite measure score, the mean value was 66.7 (tertiary hospitals, 98.5; general hospitals, 79.2; hospitals, 43.8). Despite significant differences in measure scores between tertiary, general hospitals and hospitals, no significant differences were found in mortality between hospitals. Further studies are needed to determine the care measures appropriate for CAP.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• 제76권2호
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• pp.66-74
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• 2014

Background: The increasing number of outpatients with multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens has led to a new category of pneumonia, termed healthcare-associated pneumonia (HCAP). We determined the differences in etiology and outcomes between patients with HCAP and those with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) to clarify the risk factors for HCAP mortality. Methods: A retrospective study comparing patients with HCAP and CAP at Jeju National University Hospital. The primary outcome was 30-day mortality. Results: A total of 483 patients (208 patients HCAP, 275 patients with CAP) were evaluated. Patients with HCAP were older than those with CAP (median, 74 years; interquartile range [IQR], 65-81 vs. median, 69 years; IQR, 52-78; p<0.0001). Streptococcus pneumoniae was the major pathogen in both groups, and MDR pathogens were isolated more frequently from patients with HCAP than with CAP (18.8% vs. 4.9%, p<0.0001). Initial pneumonia severity was greater in patients with HCAP than with CAP. The total 30-day mortality rate was 9.9% and was higher in patients with HCAP based on univariate analysis (16.3% vs. 5.1%; odds ratio (OR), 3.64; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.90-6.99; p<0.0001). After adjusting for age, sex, comorbidities, and initial severity, the association between HCAP and 30-day mortality became non-significant (OR, 1.98; 95% CI, 0.94-4.18; p=0.167). Conclusion: HCAP was a common cause of hospital admissions and was associated with a high mortality rate. This increased mortality was related primarily to age and initial clinical vital signs, rather than combination antibiotic therapy or type of pneumonia.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• 제52권3호
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• pp.283-288
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• 2009

Pneumonia remains the leading cause of mortality in children. Diagnosis depends on a combination of factors, including clinical assessment, radiological and laboratory findings. Although Streptococcus pneumoniae remains the most important cause of childhood bacterial pneumonia, the great majority of cases of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) are of viral etiology. A new, rapid, and inexpensive test that differentiates viral from bacterial pneumonia is needed to decide empiric antibiotic treatment. Antibiotics effective against the expected bacterial pathogens should be instituted where necessary. The role of emerging pathogens and the effect of pneumococcal resistance and heptavalent conjugate pneumococcal vaccines are to be considered in practice. There are reports supporting the valid and highly efficacious use of penicillin as a first-line drug for treating CAP. This review raises the issue of the overuse of unnecessary antibiotics in viral CAPs and the use of second or third-line antibiotics for non-complicated pneumonias in most clinical settings.