title: The pattern of respiratory infection in patients with lung cancer.
abstract: We examined retrospectively the pattern of respiratory infection in 579 patients with lung cancer admitted to Nagasaki University Hospital during the past 15 years. A total of 139 patients (24.0%) developed respiratory infection. The rates of pulmonary infection associated with large (36.2%) and small cell carcinomas (33.6%) were significantly higher than those with squamous cell carcinoma (26.0%) and adenocarcinoma (17.3%). Advanced stages of lung cancer were associated with higher complication rates (stage I: 6.3%, stage II: 15.9%, stage III: 27.9%, and stage IV: 33.8%). Deceased patients showed a significantly higher rate of pulmonary infection than alive patients during the period of investigation. Isolated organisms in excess of 10(7) cfu/ml in sputum or 10(4) cfu/ml in bronchial aspirate were mainly gram-negative bacteria (68.8%), such as Haemophilus influenzae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter cloacae, Acinetobacter sp. and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The number of patients infected with gram-positive bacteria increased markedly after 1982. Our results suggest that a successful control of pulmonary infection associated with lung cancer is important in improving the prognosis of lung malignancy.
authors: Second Department of Internal Medicine, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Kohno
authors: H
authors: H
authors: Koga
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Oka
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Kadota
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Kaku
authors: H
authors: H
authors: Soda
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Tomono
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Hara
mesh_terms: D000236:Adenoma / Q000150:complications*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018287:Carcinoma, Large Cell / Q000150:complications*; D018288:Carcinoma, Small Cell / Q000150:complications*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000150:complications*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies