TY - JOUR T1 - Incidence, characteristics and outcomes of patients with severe community acquired-MRSA pneumonia JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 1148 LP - 1158 DO - 10.1183/09031936.00041009 VL - 34 IS - 5 AU - K. Z. Vardakas AU - D. K. Matthaiou AU - M. E. Falagas Y1 - 2009/11/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/34/5/1148.abstract N2 - We evaluated the published data for the incidence, characteristics and outcomes of patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The estimated incidence of MRSA CAP is 0.51–0.64 cases per 100,000. We identified 74 articles reporting data on 114 patients. Influenza like symptoms was reported in 41% of patients. Pneumonia improved in 59 (54.1%) out of 109 patients; 49 (44.5%) out of 110 patients died. The duration of hospitalisation was 38.1±24.9 and 8.3±11.7 days, respectively. The duration of intensive care unit (ICU) stay was 18.9±13.6 and 6.8±9.7 days, respectively. 76 strains carried the Panton–Valentine leukocidin gene. The univariate analysis showed that multi-organ failure (p<0.001), leukopenia (p<0.001), admission to ICU (p<0.001), mechanical ventilation (p<0.001), use of aminoglycosides after culture results (p<0.001), shock (p = 0.001), acute respiratory distress syndrome (p = 0.001), influenza like symptoms (p = 0.008), disseminated intravascular coagulation (p = 0.042) and rash (p = 0.04) were the factors associated with death. ER -