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[Clinical usefulness of blood cultures in hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia].
Rev Med Chil. 2002 Sep; 130(9):993-1000.RM

Abstract

BACKGROUND

The clinical role of blood cultures (BC) in the management of hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is controversial.

AIM

To evaluate the clinical usefulness of blood cultures in CAP.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We prospectively studied 244 immunocompetent adults with two or more BC obtained at admission. The diagnostic yield of BC and its impact on antibiotic therapy were assessed.

RESULTS

Mean age (mean +/- sd) of patients was 67 +/- 20 years, 80% had underlying diseases and 29% received antibiotics prior to admission. Hospital length of stay was 10.4 +/- 10 days and global mortality was 7%. The diagnostic yield of BC was only 8.2% (20 patients). Mortality was significantly higher in patients with positive BC (20%) than in those with negative BC (5.8%). In only one of the 20 patients with positive BC (0.4% of total study population), attending physicians changed empiric antimicrobial therapy based on these results.

CONCLUSIONS

This study confirms that the diagnostic yield of BC in CAP hospitalized patients is low, that mortality in bacteremic patients is high and suggests that clinical usefulness of BC to guide changes on empiric antimicrobial therapy is limited, in part because attending physicians seldom use such information.

Authors+Show Affiliations

Díaz A
Departamento de Enfermedades Respiratorias, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Marcoleta 345, Santiago, Chile. alediazf@hotmail.com
Calvo M
No affiliation info available
O'Brien A
No affiliation info available
Farías G
No affiliation info available
Mardónez JM
No affiliation info available
Saldías F
No affiliation info available

MeSH

AdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overAnti-Bacterial AgentsBacteremiaCommunity-Acquired InfectionsFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPneumonia, BacterialProspective Studies

Pub Type(s)

English Abstract
Journal Article

Language

spa

PubMed ID

12434646

Citation

Díaz, Alejandro, et al. "[Clinical Usefulness of Blood Cultures in Hospitalized Patients With Community-acquired Pneumonia]." Revista Medica De Chile, vol. 130, no. 9, 2002, pp. 993-1000.
Díaz A, Calvo M, O'Brien A, et al. [Clinical usefulness of blood cultures in hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia]. Rev Med Chil. 2002;130(9):993-1000.
Díaz, A., Calvo, M., O'Brien, A., Farías, G., Mardónez, J. M., & Saldías, F. (2002). [Clinical usefulness of blood cultures in hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia]. Revista Medica De Chile, 130(9), 993-1000.
Díaz A, et al. [Clinical Usefulness of Blood Cultures in Hospitalized Patients With Community-acquired Pneumonia]. Rev Med Chil. 2002;130(9):993-1000. PubMed PMID: 12434646.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - [Clinical usefulness of blood cultures in hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia]. AU - Díaz,Alejandro, AU - Calvo,Mario, AU - O'Brien,Andrés, AU - Farías,Gonzalo, AU - Mardónez,José Miguel, AU - Saldías,Fernando, PY - 2002/11/19/pubmed PY - 2003/2/14/medline PY - 2002/11/19/entrez SP - 993 EP - 1000 JF - Revista medica de Chile JO - Rev Med Chil VL - 130 IS - 9 N2 - BACKGROUND: The clinical role of blood cultures (BC) in the management of hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is controversial. AIM: To evaluate the clinical usefulness of blood cultures in CAP. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We prospectively studied 244 immunocompetent adults with two or more BC obtained at admission. The diagnostic yield of BC and its impact on antibiotic therapy were assessed. RESULTS: Mean age (mean +/- sd) of patients was 67 +/- 20 years, 80% had underlying diseases and 29% received antibiotics prior to admission. Hospital length of stay was 10.4 +/- 10 days and global mortality was 7%. The diagnostic yield of BC was only 8.2% (20 patients). Mortality was significantly higher in patients with positive BC (20%) than in those with negative BC (5.8%). In only one of the 20 patients with positive BC (0.4% of total study population), attending physicians changed empiric antimicrobial therapy based on these results. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms that the diagnostic yield of BC in CAP hospitalized patients is low, that mortality in bacteremic patients is high and suggests that clinical usefulness of BC to guide changes on empiric antimicrobial therapy is limited, in part because attending physicians seldom use such information. SN - 0034-9887 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/12434646/[Clinical_usefulness_of_blood_cultures_in_hospitalized_patients_with_community_acquired_pneumonia]_ DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -