Five-year mortality in patients treated for severe community-acquired pneumonia - a retrospective study.
BACKGROUND
The mortality rate in patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia (SCAP) is high. We investigated the 5-year mortality rate and causes of death in a patient population treated for SCAP in our intensive care unit (ICU), and compared the mortality rate in patients with or without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as comorbidity.


METHODS
This retrospective study, which covers a period of 10 years, included patients aged > 18 years admitted to our ICU with SCAP as primary diagnosis and in need of mechanical ventilation for more than 24 h. Data were collected from the ICU internal database and the patients' medical records. The times of death were collected from the Norwegian National Registry, and the causes of death from the Norwegian Cause of Death Registry.


RESULTS
Hundred and seventy three patients were included in the study. The 5-year mortality rate for the total study population was 57.2%. There were no significant differences in the mortality rate between the group with COPD and the group without COPD (61.2% vs. 54.7%, P = 0.43). There was a wide range of comorbidities. The most common were COPD, myocardial infarction and diabetes mellitus. The two main causes of death after discharge were COPD (17 deaths) and cardiovascular diseases (seven deaths).


CONCLUSIONS
The 5-year mortality rate of the study population was high (57.2%). COPD did not seem to be a risk factor for mortality compared to non-COPD patients. The most common causes of death after discharge were COPD and cardiovascular diseases.
Division of Emergencies and Critical Care, Department of Anaesthesiology, Oslo University Hospital - Ullevaal, Oslo, Norway.
H
H
Lenz
Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
G O
GO
Norby
Department of Anaesthesiology, Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway.
V
V
Dahl
Department of Microbiology, Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway.
T E
TE
Ranheim
Department of Anaesthesiology, Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway.
R E
RE
Haagensen
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000401:mortality; D002423:Cause of Death; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000401:mortality*; D015897:Comorbidity; D003422:Critical Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D048909:Diabetes Complications / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000401:mortality*; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000401:mortality; D012121:Respiration, Artificial; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors