C-reactive protein for discriminating treatment failure from slow responding pneumonia

Treatment Failure and Clinical Stability in Severe Community-Acquired Pneumonia

Treatment failure and clinical stability are important outcomes in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). It is essential to know the causes and risk factors for treatment failure and delay in reaching clinical stability in CAP. The study of both as well as the associated underlying mechanisms and host response are key to improving outcomes in pneumonia.

Clinical features of patients with Legionnaires disease showing initial clinical improvement but radiological deterioration: A retrospective single-center analysis

Patients with Legionnaires disease occasionally experience initial clinical improvement but radiological progression. However, data on this issue are so far limited. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in chest radiograph findings in patients with Legionnaires disease who showed initial clinical improvement and to identify risk factors and outcomes in these patients.All patients diagnosed with Legionnaires disease at a tertiary hospital in South Korea between March 2011 and May 2020 were retrospectively enrolled. Legionnaires disease was defined as abnormal chest radiographs accompanied by a positive finding on at least one of the following tests: urinary antigen test, sputum Legionella polymerase chain reaction, and sputum Legionella culture. Clinical improvement was defined as defervescence and decreased C-reactive protein level. Clinical and radiological records were reviewed on treatment days 7 and 14 and at discharge. We describe the characteristics of patients with clinical improvement but radiological deterioration on treatment for Legionnaires disease and compared them with patients with initial clinical improvement and stable or resolving chest radiograph findings.Of 140 patients with Legionnaires disease, 33 (24%) showed initial clinical deterioration, while the remaining 107 (76%) showed initial clinical improvement on day 7. The latter 107 patients were analyzed in this study; 22 (21%) showed radiological progression despite the clinical improvement. Risk factors for these patients were a high pneumonia severity index score and the use of mechanical ventilation. Mortality did not significantly differ between those with initial clinical improvement but radiological deterioration and those with both initial clinical and radiological improvement (28% vs 12%, P = .49).About one-fifth of patients with Legionnaires disease, especially those who had a high pneumonia severity index score and underwent mechanical ventilation, showed radiological deterioration despite of clinical improvement 1 week after appropriate treatment, while outcomes were not significantly worse in these patients. Therefore, our findings support that close monitoring without modification of antibiotics use is warranted in those who have clinical improvement regardless of radiologic findings.

[Management of Adult Community-Acquired Pneumonia and Prevention - Update 2021 - Guideline of the German Respiratory Society (DGP), the Paul-Ehrlich-Society for Chemotherapy (PEG), the German Society for Infectious Diseases (DGI), the German Society of Medical Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DGIIN), the German Viological Society (DGV), the Competence Network CAPNETZ, the German College of General Practitioneers and Family Physicians (DEGAM), the German Society for Geriatric Medicine (DGG), the German Palliative Society (DGP), the Austrian Society of Pneumology Society (ÖGP), the Austrian Society for Infectious and Tropical Diseases (ÖGIT), the Swiss Respiratory Society (SGP) and the Swiss Society for Infectious Diseases Society (SSI)]

The present guideline provides a new and updated concept of the management of adult patients with community-acquired pneumonia. It replaces the previous guideline dating from 2016.The guideline was worked out and agreed on following the standards of methodology of a S3-guideline. This includes a systematic literature search and grading, a structured discussion of recommendations supported by the literature as well as the declaration and assessment of potential conflicts of interests.The guideline has a focus on specific clinical circumstances, an update on severity assessment, and includes recommendations for an individualized selection of antimicrobial treatment.The recommendations aim at the same time at a structured assessment of risk for adverse outcome as well as an early determination of treatment goals in order to reduce mortality in patients with curative treatment goal and to provide palliation for patients with treatment restrictions.

C-reactive protein evaluation in communityacquired pneumonia with comorbid chronic heart failure as criterion of antibiotic prescription

AIM

To prove that diagnostic algorithm based on additional measurement of serum C-reactive protein (CRP) for administration of systemic antibacterial therapy (ABT) to patients with suspected community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and concomitant chronic heart failure (CHF) does not influence outcomes of disease.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This open, single-center, randomized, prospective, noninferiority study included 160 adult patients with documented functional class II-IV CHF who had been admitted with a preliminary diagnosis of non-severe CAP. Patients were randomized at 1:1 to two groups; group 1 - with additional measurement of CRP (n=80) and group 2 - with the use of routine diagnostic methods (n=80). In group 1, systemic ABT was administered only when serum CRP was >28.5 mg / l (threshold level of the biomarker calculated at the previous stage of the study); group 2 received a standard treatment. Noninferiority test result for both algorithms was evaluated by the number of patients with clinical success on days 12-14 (primary endpoint). Non-inferiority margin was δ=-13.5 %. In addition secondary endpoints (early clinical response on days 3-5; early in-hospital adverse events (development of complications; admission to intensive care unit (ICU); death), death, recurrent CAP or CHF worsening with readmission at 28 day; mortality at 90 and 180 days) were estimated. Standard statistical tools were used for all intergroup comparisons.

RESULTS

76 patients of each group reached the primary endpoint. Systemic ABT was administered to 51 (67.1 %) patients in group 1 and 76 (100 %) patients in group 2 (p<0.05). Both groups were comparable (p>0.05) regarding all endpoints: clinical success, 70 (92.1 %) vs. 69 (90.8 %), Δ=1.3 % (one-sided 97.5 % CI: - 8.25 % for non-inferiority margin δ=-13.5 %); early clinical response, 66 (86.8 %) vs. 68 (89.5 %); admission to ICU, 1 (1.3 %) vs. 1 (1.3 %); development of complications, 20 (26.3 %) vs. 22 (28.9 %); readmission, 5 (6.6 %) vs. 6 (7.9 %); in-hospital mortality, 2 (2.6 %) vs. 1 (1.3 %), mortality at 28 day, 3 (3.9 %) vs. 2 (2.6 %), at 90 day, 5 (6.6 %) vs. 4 (5.3 %), at 180 day, 8 (10.5 %) vs. 9 (11.8 %) cases, respectively.

CONCLUSION

additional measurement of serum CRP in patients with CHF and suspected non-severe CAP was able to reduce rate of systemic ABT administration without outcomes and prognosis worsening.

The value of C-reactive protein in infection diagnosis and prognosis in elderly patients

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to determine the value of C-reactive protein level in the diagnosis and prognosis of infection in elderly patients.

STUDY POPULATION

This prospective study included inpatients in the palliative care unit during the 1-year period between January 2016 and January 2017. Patients' demographic data, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation score, and Charlson Comorbidity Index were recorded.

RESULTS

A total of 233 patients were included in the study. A total of 199 instances of infection were diagnosed in 175 of those patients; 75.3% of the infections were detected at admission and 24.7% during hospitalization. At a cut-off value of 4.82, CRP value had 81.0% specificity and 75.4% sensitivity in the diagnosis of infection. Among the patients with infection, there was no difference between those who died and those who survived in terms of baseline CRP level, but a significant difference emerged in CRP level at 48 and 96 h. Factors which were found to significantly reduce survival time were the presence of chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hypoxia and tachycardia at admission, APACHE-II score over 20.5, initial albumin level below 2.44 g/dL, and serum CRP clearance rates of less than 11% at 48 h and 20% at 96 h.

CONCLUSION

In elderly patients with infection, the initial CRP value alone does not have prognostic value, but changes observed in serial CRP measurement are a valid indicator of prognosis.

Assessment of thoracic ultrasound in complementary diagnosis and in follow up of community-acquired pneumonia (cap)

Background

Chest X-ray (CXR) is the primary diagnostic tool for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Some authors recently proposed that thoracic ultrasound (TUS) could valuably flank or even reliably substitute CXR in the diagnosis and follow-up of CAP. We investigated the clinical utility of TUS in a large sample of patients with CAP, to challenge the hypothesis that it may be a substitute for CXR.

Methods

Out of 645 consecutive patients with a CXR-confirmed CAP diagnosed in the emergency room of our hospital over a three-years period, 510 were subsequently admitted to our department of Internal Medicine. These patients were evaluated by TUS by a well-trained operator who was blinded of the initial diagnosis. TUS scans were performed both at admission and repeated at day 4-6th and 9-14th during stay.

Results

TUS identified 375/510 (73.5%) of CXR-confirmed lesions, mostly located in posterior-basal or mid-thoracic areas of the lungs. Pleural effusion was detected in 26.9% of patients by CXR and in 30.4% by TUS. TUS documented the change in size of the consolidated areas as follows: 6.3 ± 3.4 cm at time 0, 2.5 ± 1.8 at 4-6 d, 0.9 ± 1.4 at 9-14 d. Out of the 12 patients with delayed CAP healing, 7 of them turned out to have lung cancer.

Conclusions

TUS allowed to detect lung consolidations in over 70% of patients with CXR-confirmed CAP, but it gave false negative results in 26.5% of cases. Our longitudinal results confirm the role of TUS in the follow-up of detectable lesions. Thus, TUS should be regarded as a complementary and monitoring tool in pneumonia, instead of a primary imaging modality.

The prognostic and risk-stratified value of neutrophil–lymphocyte count ratio in Chinese patients with community-acquired pneumonia

Community-acquired pneumonia is a common disease associated with high mortality. This retrospective study examined whether the neutrophil–lymphocyte count ratio (NLR), already widely used as an index of inflammation, can be used to predict in-hospital mortality of adults with community-acquired pneumonia. Clinical characteristics, CURB-65 and pneumonia severity index score of pneumonia severity, NLR, serum levels of C-reactive protein and procalcitonin, and in-hospital mortality were analyzed for 318 consecutive adults with community-acquired pneumonia admitted to West China Hospital between July 2012 and December 2013. The ability of NLR and other parameters to predict in-hospital mortality was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results showed that NLR increased with increasing CURB-65 ( P < 0.05) and pneumonia severity index ( P < 0.05), and NLR correlated positively with serum levels of C-reactive protein (r = 0.239, P < 0.05) and procalcitonin (r = 0.211, P < 0.05). The median value of NLR was significantly higher among patients who died in hospital (11.96) than among those who were alive at the end of hospitalization (4.19, P < 0.05). Based on a cut-off NLR of 7.12, this index predicted in-hospital mortality with a sensitivity of 82.61% and specificity of 72.20% (area under ROC curve, 0.799). Predictive power was greater for the combination of NLR and serum levels of C-reactive protein and procalcitonin. These results suggest that NLR may be useful for predicting prognosis in Chinese adults with community-acquired pneumonia, and it may work better in combination with traditional markers.

C-reactive protein (CRP) measurement in geriatric patients hospitalized for acute infection

The physiology of inflammatory response is modified by the aging process and is substantially affected by multimorbidity and disability. Infection is the most frequent cause of acute inflammation in both adult and older subjects. C-reactive protein (CRP) is the most used biomarker of inflammation, and a substantial amount of literature has demonstrated its importance and clinical usefulness in adult subjects. However, the clinical significance of serum CRP determination has not been completely clarified in older subjects with acute infection, especially in the light of the age-related rearrangements in immunity and cytokine production. Thus, in the present review, we focus on the existing knowledge about serum CRP level interpretation in geriatric patients hospitalized with acute infection. Our aims were to determine the significance of CRP measurement at hospital admission for establishing a diagnosis of infection and/or a prognosis and to evaluate whether it is indicated to repeat hs-CRP measurements during hospital stay for monitoring disease course and, possibly, guiding the discharge timing. We concluded that CRP dosage at hospital admission is helpful to detect acute infection, and particularly sepsis, in geriatric patients, and that CRP elevation may provide valuable short-term prognostic information. At the current state of art, serial CRP measurements are instead not indicated to monitor disease course and plan hospital discharge in this setting.

What is the best approach to the nonresponding patient with community-acquired pneumonia?

Treatment failure in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is the failure to normalize the clinical features (eg, fever, cough, sputum production), or nonresolving image in chest radiograph, despite antimicrobial therapy. The incidence of treatment failure in CAP has not been clearly established; according to several studies it ranges between 6% and 15%. The rate of mortality increases significantly, especially in those patients with severe CAP. It is important to be able to identify what patients are at risk for progressive or treatment failure pneumonia that may make them candidates for a more careful monitoring.

[Multidisciplinary guidelines for the management of community-acquired pneumonia]

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is an infectious respiratory disease with an incidence that ranges from 3 to 8 cases per 1,000 inhabitants per year. This incidence increases with age and comorbidities. Forty per cent of CAP patients require hospitalization and around 10% of these patients are admitted in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Several studies have suggested that the implementation of clinical guidelines has a positive impact in the outcome of patients including mortality and length of stay. The more recent and used guidelines are those from Infectious Diseases Society of America/American Thoracic Society, published in 2007, the 2009 from the British Thoracic Society, and that from the European Respiratory Society/European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, published in 2010. In Spain, the most recently released guideline is the Sociedad Española de Neumología y Cirugía Torácica-2011 guideline. The present guidelines GNAC are designed to be used by the majority of health-care professionals that can participate in the care of CAP patients including diagnosis, decision of hospital and ICU admission, treatment and prevention. The Centro Cochrane Iberoamericano (CCIB) has participated in summarizing the previous guidelines and in the bibliography search. For each one of the following sections the panel of experts has developed a table with recommendations classified according to its evidence, strength and practical applicability using the Grading of Recommendations of Assessment Development and Evaluations (GRADE) system: 1. Epidemiology, microbiological etiology and antibiotic resistances.2. Clinical and microbiological diagnosis.3. Prognostic scales and decision of hospital admission.4. ICU admission criteria. 5. Empirical and definitive antibiotic treatment.6. Treatment failure. 7. Prevention.

The role of biomarkers in low respiratory tract infections

Low respiratory tract infections (LRTI) represent the leading infectious cause of death worldwide and account for substantial use of healthcare resources. Physicians must adopt practices focused on improving outcomes and serum biomarker can help them in the management of patients with LRTI. Several studies have been carried out or are currently ongoing to evaluate the role of various biomarkers for the differential diagnosis, definition of prognosis, treatment and duration of antibiotic therapy in respiratory infections. The objective of this position paper of the Italian Society of Respiratory Diseases (SIMER) is to provide evidence-based recommendations for the use of biomarkers in routine clinical practice in the management of adult patients with LRTI. These guidelines capture the use of biomarkers both outside and inside the hospital, focused on community-acquired pneumonia, acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hospital-acquired and ventilator-acquired pneumonia.

Inflammatory biomarkers for the diagnosis, monitoring and follow-up of community-acquired pneumonia: clinical evidence and perspectives

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is defined as an infection of the alveolar or gas-exchanging portions of the lungs occurring outside the hospital, with clinical symptoms accompanied by the presence of an infiltrate in the chest radiograph. Due to the high prevalence and the large demand of healthcare resources, an accurate clinical and therapeutic decision making is crucial in patients with CAP. As such, there is increasing interest on the use of traditional and innovative biomarkers such as procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP). At variance with other traditional inflammatory and innovative biomarkers, PCT might help limiting unnecessary antibiotic use, reduce bacterial resistance and decrease medical costs and drug-related adverse events. PCT however carries some additional advantages over CRP, such as the greater specificity for infections and a more narrow range of normal concentrations.

Role of Rifampin-Based Combination Therapy for Severe Community-Acquired Legionella pneumophila Pneumonia

Objective:

To review the literature concerning the role of rifampin in the combination treatment of Legionella pneumophila pneumonia.

Data Sources:

A search of MEDLINE and Ovid databases was conducted (January 1970-May 2011) using the search terms Legionella pneumophila, pneumonia, Legionnaires' disease, rifampin or rifampicin, macrolide, fluoroquinolone, erythromycin, clarithromycin, levofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, and moxifloxacin

Study Selection and Data Extraction:

In vivo studies published in English that compared antimicrobial therapies including rifampin for the treatment of Legionella pneumonia, as well as in vitro studies including an assessment of rifampin bioactivity, were included.

Data Synthesis:

Macrolides and fluoroquinolones have been effective as monotherapy in the treatment of L. pneumophila pneumonia. This review includes evidence summaries from 4 bioactivity evaluations. 6 clinical studies, and 6 reported cases of combination rifampin use. Combined with supporting evidence, the role of combination rifampin therapy is further delineated.

Conclusions:

Interpretation of the data is limited by the potential for selection bias and lack of consistent comparators. Rifampin therapy should be considered only for patients with severe disease or significant comorbid conditions (eg. uncontrolled diabetes, smoking, or obstructive lung disease) including immunocompromised hosts and those refractory to conventional monotherapy regimens. Caution for significant adverse drug events and drug-drug interactions should be taken with the addition of rifampin.