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Predicting the Need for Mechanical Ventilation and/or Inotropic Support for Young Adults Admitted to the Hospital with Community-Acquired Pneumonia.
Clin Infect Dis. 2008 Nov 7;
Authors: Chalmers JD, Singanayagam A, Hill AT
The UK Department of Health has published concerns that pneumonia severity scores determined at hospital admission may underestimate the severity of pneumonia in young adults. SMART-COP (systolic blood pressure, multilobar chest radiography involvement, albumin level, respiratory rate, tachycardia, confusion, oxygenation, and arterial pH) was superior to both the CURB65 (confusion, urea, respiratory rate, systolic or diastolic blood pressure, and age >/=65 years) score and the Pneumonia Severity Index in predicting the need for mechanical ventilation and/or inotropic support, but SMART-COP would still incorrectly stratify 15% of patients.
PMID: 18991510 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]