REVIEWS  ADVANCES IN CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD) 

Minerva Pneumologica 2009 March;48(1):85-94

Copyright © 2009 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Community-acquired pneumonia in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients

Sanz Herrero F. ¹, Blanquer Olivas J. ²

¹ Servicio de Neumología, Consorci Hospital General University of València València, Spain 2 Servicio de Medicina Intensiva Hospital Clínic University of València, València, Spain

The high prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), in addition to one of the most adverse infectious complications, pneumonia, is a challenge for the clinician in the management of these patients. Pneumonia in COPD patients has several particular etiological characteristics, in which gram-negative bacilli can often be isolated, especially in advanced stages of the disease. The use of concomitant medication (both systemic and inhaled corticosteroids) seems to play a modifying role in pneumonia in these patients, which remains to be defined in the future, either acting as an immunosuppressant factor or modulating the inflammatory response and severity of the infection. The presence of COPD in a patient with pneumonia can be regarded as an additional risk factor leading to an adverse outcome, regardless of the current severity scores of pneumonia.