title: Pneumonia as comorbidity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Differences between acute exacerbation of COPD and pneumonia in patients with COPD.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pneumonia is considered an independent entity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), to be distinguished from an infectious exacerbation of COPD. The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical characteristics and progress of the exacerbation of COPD (ECOPD) compared to pneumonia in COPD (PCOPD) patients requiring hospitalization.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective, longitudinal, observational cohort study including 124 COPD patients requiring hospital admission for lower respiratory tract infection. Patients were categorized according to presence of ECOPD (n=104) or PCOPD (n=20), depending on presence of consolidation on X-ray. Demographic, clinical, laboratory, microbiological and progress variables were collected.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with ECOPD showed more severe respiratory disease according to the degree of obstruction (P<.01) and need for oxygen therapy (P<.05). PCOPD patients showed increased presence of fever (P<.05), lower blood pressure (P<.001), more laboratory abnormalities (P<.05; leukocytosis, elevated CRP, low serum albumin) and increased presence of crepitus (P<.01). Microbiological diagnosis was achieved in 30.8% of cases of ECOPD and 35% of PCOPD; sputum culture yielded the highest percentage of positive results, predominantly Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Regarding the progress of the episode, no differences were found in hospital stay, need for ICU or mechanical ventilation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data confirm clinical and analytical differences between ECOPD and PCOPD in patients who require hospital admission, while there were no differences in subsequent progress.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Medicina Interna, Hospital de Mataró, Consorci Sanitari del Maresme, Mataró, Barcelona, España; Departamento de Medicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, España. Electronic address: rboixeda@csdm.cat.
authors.forename: Ramon
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Boixeda
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Medicina Interna, Hospital de Mataró, Consorci Sanitari del Maresme, Mataró, Barcelona, España; Departamento de Medicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, España.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bacca
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Medicina Interna, Hospital de Mataró, Consorci Sanitari del Maresme, Mataró, Barcelona, España.
authors.forename: Lorena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Elias
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Medicina Interna, Hospital de Mataró, Consorci Sanitari del Maresme, Mataró, Barcelona, España; Departamento de Medicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, España.
authors.forename: Josep Anton
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Capdevila
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Neumología, Hospital de Mataró, Consorci Sanitari del Maresme, Mataró, Barcelona, España.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Vilà
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Medicina Interna, Hospital de Mataró, Consorci Sanitari del Maresme, Mataró, Barcelona, España.
authors.forename: Montserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mauri
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos, Hospital de Mataró, Consorci Sanitari del Maresme, CIBERES, Mataró, Barcelona, España.
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Almirall
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000368:Aged; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004630:Emergencies; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007964:Leukocytosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology; D010102:Oxygen Inhalation Therapy; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000628:therapy; D011024:Pneumonia, Viral / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy / Q000821:virology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D012121:Respiration, Artificial / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents
keywords: Acute exacerbation; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica; Exacerbación aguda; Hospitalización; Hospitalization; Infección respiratoria; Neumonía; Pneumonia; Respiratory infection