PNEUMONIA

See also "Pneumonia in Children", "Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia"

I. Using inflammatory biomarkers to guide therapy
  1. Procalcitonin
    1. Goes up with acute bacterial infection; down with effective treatment
    2. In a study in 302 adult inpatients with community-acquired pneumonia randomized to standard treatment vs. treatment based on procalcitonin levels (antibiotics witheld if level < 0.1 ug/L), the procalcitonin-monitoring group had sig. less incidence of use of antibiotics and sig. shorter duration of therapy, but no sig. diff. in clinical and laboratory outcomes (Am. J. Resp. Crit. Care Med. 174:84, 2006--JW)