Mei Jiang

Weight of the IDSA/ATS minor criteria for severe community-acquired pneumonia.

BACKGROUNDnThe 2007 Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA)/American Thoracic Society (ATS) guidelines defined severe community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) when patients fulfilled three out of nine minor criteria. Whether each of the criteria is of equal weight is not clear. The purpose of this study was to determine the weight of the minor criteria.nnnMETHODSn1230 adult patients admitted to our hospital from 2005 to 2009 for CAP were reviewed retrospectively.nnnRESULTSnHospital mortality rose sharply from 0.3%, 1.0% and 3.3%, respectively, for patients with none, one and two minor criteria to 10.5% for patients with three minor criteria. Arterial oxygen pressure/fraction inspired oxygen (PaO(2)/FiO(2))xa0≤xa0250xa0mm Hg, confusion, and uremia had the strongest association with mortality (Odds ratio, 22.162, 22.148, 16.343; respectively). Leukopenia, hypothermia, and hypotension were not associated with mortality. Confusion and uremia showed independent relationships with mortality (Odds ratio, 9.296, 8.493; respectively). Sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) scores and costs increased significantly with the number of minor criteria present. Uremia and PaO(2)/FiO(2)xa0≤xa0250xa0mm Hg were most strongly associated with SOFA scores [rank correlation coefficient (r(s)), 0.352, 0.336; respectively]. PaO(2)/FiO(2)xa0≤xa0250xa0mm Hg and confusion were in closest relation to hospital length of stay (LOS) (r(s), 0.114, 0.114; respectively). PaO(2)/FiO(2) ≤ 250xa0mm Hg and multilobar infiltrates were most strongly associated with costs (r(s), 0.257, 0.196; respectively).nnnCONCLUSIONSnThe individual 2007 IDSA/ATS minor criteria for severe CAP were of unequal weight in predicting hospital mortality, SOFA scores, hospital LOS, and costs.

CURB-65 score predicted mortality in community-acquired pneumonia better than IDSA/ATS minor criteria in a low-mortality-rate setting.

The CURB-65 scoring system performs well at identifying patients with pneumonia who have a low risk of death. Whether it predicts mortality in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) better than the 2007 Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA)/American Thoracic Society (ATS) minor criteria in low-mortality-rate settings is not clear. The purpose of this study was to determine the hypothesis.A total of 1,230 adult inpatients admitted to our hospital from 2005 to 2009 for CAP were reviewed retrospectively.The hospital mortality was 1.3xa0%. Percentage mortality increased significantly with CURB-65 score and the increasing number of IDSA/ATS minor criteria present. The number of CURB-65 criteria or IDSA/ATS minor criteria present had significant increased odds ratios for mortality of 7.547 and 2.711, respectively. The sensitivities of a CURB-65 score of ≥3 and the presence of ≥3 minor criteria in predicting mortality was 25xa0% and 37.5xa0%, which increased to 75xa0% and 62.5xa0%, while the cut-off values reduced to ≥2 criteria, respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for CURB-65 was greater than the corresponding area for IDSA/ATS minor criteria in predicting hospital mortality (0.915 vs. 0.805, pu2009=u20090.0091).CURB-65 score predicted hospital mortality better than IDSA/ATS minor criteria, and a CURB-65 score of ≥2 or the presence of ≥2 minor criteria might be more valuable cut-off values for “severe” CAP in a low-mortality-rate setting.

Modified IDSA/ATS Minor Criteria for Severe Community-Acquired Pneumonia Best Predicted Mortality.

AbstractIt is not clear whether the IDSA/ATS minor criteria for severe community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) could be simplified or even be modified to orchestrate improvements in predicting mortality.A retrospective cohort study of 1230 CAP patients was performed to simplify and to modify the scoring system by excluding 4 noncontributory or infrequent variables (leukopenia, hypothermia, hypotension, and thrombocytopenia) and by excluding these variables and then adding age ≥65 years, respectively. The simplification and modification were tested against a prospective 2-center validation cohort of 1409 adults with CAP.The increasing numbers of IDSA/ATS, simplified, and modified minor criteria present in the retrospective cohort were positively associated with the mortality, showing significant increased odds ratios for mortality of 2.711, 4.095, and 3.755, respectively. The validation cohort confirmed a similar pattern. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and Youden index of modified minor criteria for mortality prediction were the best pattern in the retrospective cohort. High values of corresponding indices were confirmed in the validation cohort. The highest accuracy of the modified version for predicting mortality in the retrospective cohort was illustrated by the highest area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.925 (descending order: modified, simplified, and IDSA/ATS minor criteria). The validation cohort confirmed a similar paradigm.The IDSA/ATS minor criteria could be simplified to 5 variables and then be modified to orchestrate improvements in predicting mortality in CAP patients. The modified version best predicted mortality. These were more suitable for clinic and emergency department.

Mortality among severe community-acquired pneumonia patients depends on combinations of 2007 IDSA/ATS minor criteria

OBJECTIVESnThe individual 2007 Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA)/American Thoracic Society (ATS) minor criteria for severe community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) are of unequal weight in predicting mortality. It is not clear whether the combinations of predictive findings might imply diverse severities or different mortalities.nnnMETHODSnA prospective two centre cohort study was performed of 385 severe CAP patients fulfilling three or more IDSA/ATS minor criteria amongst 1430 patients.nnnRESULTSnHospital mortality rose sharply from 5.7%, 9.9%, and 16.5%, respectively, for patients with none of three predictive findings most strongly associated to mortality (PaO2/FiO2 ≤ 250mm Hg, confusion and uraemia), one of those, and two of those to 38.6% for patients with all those (p<0.001). The number of three predictive findings present had a significantly increased odds ratio for mortality of 2.796 (p<0.001), and had the degree of positive association with sequential organ failure assessment scores at 72hours, incurring significantly longer hospital stay and higher costs.nnnCONCLUSIONSnDifferent combinations of 2007 IDSA/ATS minor criteria for severe CAP were associated to diverse severities and different mortalities. The combination of PaO2/FiO2 ≤ 250mm Hg, confusion and uraemia predicted more severity and higher mortality compared with others.

Priority for treatment and intensive care of patients with non-severe community-acquired pneumonia

Background: The Infectious Disease Society of America/the American Thoracic Society (IDSA/ATS) minor criteria for severe community‐acquired pneumonia (CAP) are of unequal weight in predicting mortality. It is unclear whether the patients with non‐severe CAP meeting the minor criteria most strongly associated to mortality should have the priority for treatment and intensive care. It is warranted to explore this intriguing hypothesis. Methods: A retrospective cohort study of 1230 patients with CAP was performed. This was tested against a prospective 2‐center cohort of 1749 adults with CAP. Results: The patients with CAP fulfilling the predictive findings most strongly associated to mortality, i.e. PaO2/FiO2 ≤ 250 mm Hg, confusion, and uremia, showed higher mortality rates than those not fulfilling the predictive findings in subgroup analyses of the retrospective cohort. The more the number of predictive findings present, the higher the mortality rates. The prospective cohort confirmed a similar pattern. Interestingly, the patients with non‐severe CAP meeting the predictive findings demonstrated unexpectedly higher mortality rates compared with the patients with severe CAP not meeting the predictive findings in the prospective cohort (P = 0.003), although there only existed death of an uptrend in the retrospective cohort. Two similar and intriguing paradigms about sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) scores and pneumonia severity index (PSI) scores were confirmed in the 2 cohorts. Conclusions: The patients with non‐severe CAP fulfilling the predictive findings most strongly associated to mortality demonstrated higher SOFA and PSI scores and mortality rates, and might have the priority for treatment and intensive care.

CUR-65 Score for Community-Acquired Pneumonia Predicted Mortality Better Than CURB-65 Score in Low–Mortality Rate Settings

Background:It is not clear whether low-blood pressure criterion could be removed from CURB-65 (confusion, urea >7 mmol/L, respiratory rate ≥30/min, low blood pressure and age ≥65 years) score to orchestrate an improvement in identifying patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in low–mortality rate settings. Methods:A retrospective cohort study of 1,230 CAP patients was performed to simplify the CURB-65 scoring system by excluding low-blood pressure variable. The simplification was validated in a prospective 2-center cohort of 1,409 adults with CAP. Results:The hospital mortalities were 1.3% and 3.8% in the retrospective and prospective cohorts, respectively. The mortality rates in the 2 cohorts increased directly with the increasing scores, showing significant increased odds ratios for mortality. The pattern of sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and Youdens index of a CUR-65 (Confusion, Urea >7 mmol/L, Respiratory rate ≥30/min and age ≥65 years) score of ≥2 for prediction of mortality was better than that of a CURB-65 score of ≥3 in the retrospective cohort. Higher values of corresponding indices were confirmed in the validation cohort. The higher accuracy of CUR-65 score for predicting mortality was illustrated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.937, compared with 0.915 for CURB-65 score in the retrospective cohort (P = 0.0073). The validation cohort confirmed a similar paradigm (0.953 versus 0.907, P = 0.0002). Conclusions:CURB-65 score could be simplified by removing low blood pressure to orchestrate an improvement in predicting mortality in CAP patients who have a low risk of death. A CUR-65 score of ≥2 might be a more valuable cutoff value for severe CAP.