Patients With Community‐acquired Pneumonia Paper
Patients With Community‐acquired Pneumonia Paper
Chest Radiograph As The Standard Method Of Diagnosing Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs caused by microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, or fungus. The presenting signs and symptoms are coughing, fever, chest pain, and sputum production. The diagnostic tools in pneumonia are the CURB-65 assessment score, chest radiograph, and laboratory investigations such as blood culture and sensitivity. The most appropriate chest radiograph is the x-ray among chest ultrasound and CT scan (Patel, et al, 2019). A chest X-ray visualizes the chest anatomy and can easily indicate the presence of an infection. Studies show that a chest x-ray is 93% sensitive to pneumonia and 95% specific to pneumonia compared to other diagnostic methods. Patients With Community‐acquired Pneumonia Paper
Chest x-ray findings suggest the type and the cause of pneumonia in a patient. Examples of chest x-ray findings suggestive of pneumonia are lung consolidation, peribronchial nodules, round-glass opacities, and random nodules (Patel, et al, 2019). Lung consolidation is suggestive of alveolar or lobar pneumonia. Peribronchial nodules are the results of the thickening of the bronchiole wall causing bronchial pneumonia. Ground-glass opacity is a result of incomplete alveolar filling and pulmonary edema hence the diagnosis of interstitial pneumonia. Random nodules in a chest x-ray are suggestive of viral pneumonia due to hematogenous spread. A chest x-ray is a valuable diagnostic tool that reduces the misdiagnosis of pneumonia in general practice.
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CURB-65 Severity Score Assessment Test
CURB-65 is a score used in assessing the severity of pneumonia and the treatment plan of a patient diagnosed with pneumonia. The initials CURB-65 stands for confusion or altered mental status, uremia greater than 20mg/dl, respiratory rate of more than 30 breaths per minute, blood pressure less than 90/60mmHg, and age older than 65 years (Sharp, et al, 2016). Patients with a score of 0-1 receive outpatient treatment, a score of 2 needs admission to a general medical ward, and a score of 3 or higher needs admission at the intensive care unit. CURB-65 score is also used to determine the mortalities associated with pneumonia. The highest score of five has a 57% mortality rate and the lowest is a score of 0 with a 0.7% mortality rate. Patients With Community‐acquired Pneumonia Paper
Blood pressure below 90/60mmHg is known as hypotension. It is a complication of pneumonia due to the spreading of bacteremia into the system. The increased level of urea in pneumonia is due to dehydration which increases the reabsorption in the kidneys. Fast breath rate is known as tachypnea. It is caused by increased bacteremia in the system and acidosis caused by poor oxygen circulation. Patients older than 65 years old are at a higher risk of contracting community-acquired pneumonia comparing to other groups of people due to reduced immunity and recurrent upper respiratory tract infections. Reduced immunity may be due to age or other chronic illnesses at old age such as COPD or malignancy of the lungs. This group of the patient should get an injection of pneumococcal vaccine to reduce the chances of an infection. Pneumonia causes increased bacteremia in the blood and reduce oxygen circulation to the brain and muscles. This is the main cause of confusion among patients with severe pneumonia. CURB 65 is an improved prediction of severity and mortality rate that is used to adjust the process of care in the patients (Sharp, et al, 2016). CURB 65 is 96.7% in specific and sensitive in predicting mortality and need for ICU in the patients diagnosed with pneumonia. Patients With Community‐acquired Pneumonia Paper
1, Discuss the chest radiograph as the standard method of diagnosing pneumonia. 1. Discuss CURB-65 severity score assessment test used for the diagnosis of pneumonia. please uses sources within the last 5 years Patients With Community‐acquired Pneumonia Paper
References
Patel, B. N., Rosenberg, L., Willcox, G., Baltaxe, D., Lyons, M., Irvin, J., … & Lungren, M. P. (2019). Human–machine partnership with artificial intelligence for chest radiograph diagnosis. NPJ digital medicine, 2(1), 1-10.
Sharp, A. L., Jones, J. P., Wu, I., Huynh, D., Kocher, K. E., Shah, N. R., & Gould, M. K. (2016). CURB‐65 Performance Among Admitted and Discharged Emergency Department Patients With Community‐acquired Pneumonia. Academic Emergency Medicine, 23(4), 400-405. Patients With Community‐acquired Pneumonia Paper
