Clinical and etiological features of community-acquired pneumonia in the elderly
Llorente, J.L.; Zalacaín, R.; Gaztelurrutia, L.; Talayero, N.; Pérez, M.; Badiola, C.; Sobradillo, V.
Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiologia Clinica 12(1): 21-25
1994
ISSN/ISBN: 0213-005X PMID: 8155750 Document Number: 430852
The aim of the present study was to know the clinical and etiologic features of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in elderly patients requiring hospital admission. A prospective study of 36 consecutive patients aged over 70 years, admitted to a general hospital was performed. Standard analytical determinations, blood cultures, and serologic studies were performed in all patients using invasive techniques: aspirative transthoracic puncture (ATP) with ultrafine needle in 35 (97%) cases, and telescopic catheter (TC) in 1 case. The mean age was 79 years (range: 71-90). Twenty-two patients had received antibiotic treatment prior to admission (61%) and 17 (47%) presented chronic debilitating diseases. The clinical characteristics of CAP were "typical" with acute presentation in most. Fifteen cases (42%) were etiologically diagnosed and the most frequently isolated agents were Streptococcus pneumoniae (22%) and Haemophilus influenzae (8%). Empiric treatment was changed on the basis of isolations in 7 cases (19%). Eight patients died (22%). According to our results community-acquired pneumonia in the population studied: 1) generally showed an acute presentation with "typical" characteristics, carrying a high mortality rate (22%), 2) is of bacterial etiology, with S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae being the most frequently isolated microorganisms, 3) the use of ATP in community-acquired pneumonia offers a high diagnostic effectiveness, good tolerance and low risk of complications.