TY - JOUR
T1 - Lung abscess in adults
T2 - Clinical comparison of immunocompromised to non-immunocompromised patients
AU - Mansharamani, N.
AU - Balachandran, D.
AU - Delaney, D.
AU - Zibrak, J. D.
AU - Silvestri, R. C.
AU - Koziel, H.
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2002/3
Y1 - 2002/3
N2 - Information related to the clinical characteristics and isolated microbes associated with lung abscesses comparing immunocompromised (IC) to non-immunocompromised (non-IC) patients is limited. A retrospective review for 1984-1996 identified 34 consecutive adult cases of lung abscess (representing 0.2% of all cases of pneumonia), including 10 non-IC and 24 IC patients. Comparison of age, gender, tobacco use, pre-existing pulmonary disease or recognized aspiration risk factors were not significantly different between the two groups. Upper lobe involvement accounted for the majority of cases, although multi-lobe involvement was limited to IC patients. There were no differences in the need for surgical intervention, and mortality was very low for both groups. Anaerobes were the most frequent isolates for non-IC patients (30%), whereas aerobes were the most frequent isolate for IC patients (63%). Importantly, certain organisms were exclusively isolated in the IC group and multiple isolates were obtained only from the IC patients. Thus, comparing non-IC to IC patients, clinical characteristics may be similar whereas important differences may exist in the microbiology associated with lung abscess. These findings have important implications for the clinical management of these patient groups, and support a strategy to aggressively identify microbial agents in abscess material.
AB - Information related to the clinical characteristics and isolated microbes associated with lung abscesses comparing immunocompromised (IC) to non-immunocompromised (non-IC) patients is limited. A retrospective review for 1984-1996 identified 34 consecutive adult cases of lung abscess (representing 0.2% of all cases of pneumonia), including 10 non-IC and 24 IC patients. Comparison of age, gender, tobacco use, pre-existing pulmonary disease or recognized aspiration risk factors were not significantly different between the two groups. Upper lobe involvement accounted for the majority of cases, although multi-lobe involvement was limited to IC patients. There were no differences in the need for surgical intervention, and mortality was very low for both groups. Anaerobes were the most frequent isolates for non-IC patients (30%), whereas aerobes were the most frequent isolate for IC patients (63%). Importantly, certain organisms were exclusively isolated in the IC group and multiple isolates were obtained only from the IC patients. Thus, comparing non-IC to IC patients, clinical characteristics may be similar whereas important differences may exist in the microbiology associated with lung abscess. These findings have important implications for the clinical management of these patient groups, and support a strategy to aggressively identify microbial agents in abscess material.
KW - Immunocompromised
KW - Lung abscess
KW - Pneumonia
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0036489997&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0036489997&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1053/rmed.2001.1247
DO - 10.1053/rmed.2001.1247
M3 - Article
C2 - 11905552
AN - SCOPUS:0036489997
SN - 0954-6111
VL - 96
SP - 178
EP - 185
JO - Respiratory Medicine
JF - Respiratory Medicine
IS - 3
ER -