Radiographic follow-up of community-acquired pneumonia in children.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the value of radiographic follow-up of community-acquired pneumonia in children who are previously healthy.


METHODS
Patient records for the years 2003 and 2004 at the Ullevål University Hospital in Oslo were reviewed, and a total of 245 children were selected for the study. Radiographs were evaluated by two paediatric radiologists independently.


RESULTS
One hundred and thirty-three patients had control radiographs, of which 106 were normal and 27 were abnormal. Only three of 27 patients with abnormal findings had further clinical problems that could be related to the pneumonia. Two of 106 with normal findings had further clinical problems, despite the normal control radiograph. Of the 112 without radiographic follow-up, 10 had subsequent clinical problems, but most occurred within the first 4 weeks after discharge, before controls would have been scheduled. There were five patients who may have benefited from controls. One relapse could theoretically have been prevented. Four patients were cases for whom the pneumonias were the first manifestations of chronic lung disease. Such patients may have some benefit from control radiographs, but only in terms of detecting the chronic disease at an earlier stage, not in altering the clinical course. Such modest benefits must be weighed against the consequences of providing follow-up to a large number of healthy children, and making lots of abnormal findings with no clinical significance.


CONCLUSIONS
Control radiographs are not very valuable in children who are otherwise healthy.
Surén
Pål
P
Children's Department, Ullevål University Hospital, Oslo, Norway. pal.suren@fhi.no
Try
Kirsti
K
Eriksson
Jan
J
Khoshnewiszadeh
Behzad
B
Wathne
Karl-Olaf
KO
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012008:Recurrence