Publications by authors named "P Dambrava"
Background And Objective: Although the benefits of systemic corticosteroids in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) are not clear, their use is frequent in clinical practice. We described the frequency of this practice, patients' characteristics and its clinical impact.
Methods: We investigated all adult CAP patients visited between June 1997 and January 2008 (n = 3257).
Background: Pneumonia among nursing home (NH) residents has increased considerably in recent years, but it remains unclear whether it should be considered as community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) or a new category of infection.
Methods: 150 consecutive cases of NH-acquired pneumonia (NHAP) (from 1 February 1997 to 1 July 2007) were analysed.
Results: Patients (median age, 82 years; range, 77-87 years) showed numerous co-morbidities, (neurological, 55%; pulmonary, 38%; cardiac, 35%) and severe disability for daily activities (partial, 32%; total, 31%).
The American Thoracic Society (ATS) published guidelines for the treatment and management of community-acquired pneumonia in 2001, but the impact of adherence on outcomes such as mortality and length of stay is not well defined. A study of 780 patients with community-acquired pneumonia consecutively admitted to hospital over 1 yr was carried out. Nursing home patients were excluded.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The role of viruses in community-acquired pneumonia may have been previously underestimated. We aimed to study the incidence and clinical characteristics of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) due to respiratory viruses in adults adding PCR to routine conventional laboratory tests.
Methods: Consecutive adult patients diagnosed of CAP from January 2003 to March 2004 were included.