Radiological findings in children with acute pneumonia: age more important than infectious agent.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate whether radiological findings and healing time in children with pneumonia are correlated to etiologic agent.


METHODS
A total of 346 children with radiologically verified acute pneumonia, and with accomplished serological tests for bacteria and viruses, were included in the study. Five etiological groups were analysed: children with bacterial etiology only, with viral etiology only, with mixed bacterial and viral etiology, with Mycoplasma only, and children with no etiology.


RESULTS
The chest films of each etiological group were analysed and the findings were correlated to the children's age. The radiological findings did not differ between the etiological groups. Radiological findings correlated significantly with the patient's age. The radiological healing frequency at check-up X-ray was found to be significantly lower in children with mixed bacterial and viral etiology compared to children in each of the other groups and to the material as a whole.


CONCLUSIONS
Conclusions about the etiology could not be drawn from the chest X-ray findings.
Wahlgren
H
H
Department of Pediatric Radiology, Astrid Lindgren's Children's Hospital, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. hedvig.wahlgren@karolinska.se
Mortensson
W
W
Eriksson
M
M
Finkel
Y
Y
Forsgren
M
M
Leinonen
M
M
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018450:Disease Progression; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology*; D011024:Pneumonia, Viral / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic / Q000379:methods*