Abstract
Background: Lung infection is the world´s leading infectious cause of death. Bacterial parenchymal infection may cause lung cavities, which might impact treatment and prognosis.
Aim: To evaluate predictive factors for the existence of cavities in bacterial lung infections and their outcomes.
Methods: We included the last 27 patients admitted in a pulmonology ward due to cavitary bacterial lung infection, until December 2013. We also included the last 27 patients admitted due to bacterial parenchymal infection without cavities. Tuberculosis, HIV patients and nosocomial infections were excluded. Demographic, clinical and microbiological data, hospital stay length and mortality were compared between groups.
Results: Patients with lung cavities were slightly younger (60 vs 65years, p=0.215). Men predominate in each group (p>0.05). Hospitalization in the previous 90 days was the only predictive factor for cavitary lung disease (OR=5.263, p=0.036).
We identified bacteria in 30% of patients with lung cavities. The most frequent were P. aeruginosa (3), K. pneumonia (2) and E. coli (2). Only in 19% of patients without cavities was identified a bacteria.
Hospital stay length was longer in patients with lung cavities (19 vs 12days, p=0.025). Mortality was also higher but not statistically different (15% vs 4%, p=0.159).
Conclusions: Cavitary bacterial lung infections are associated to a longer hospital stay and to a higher mortality. In a pulmonology ward, the risk factors for cavitary infections described in literature (diabetes, age, neurologic or periodontal disease…) seem to be less relevant. Interestingly, a hospitalization in the previous 90 days was the only risk factor for a cavitary lung infection in these patients.
- © 2014 ERS