COPD patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia: implications for management


KOULENTİ D., BLOT S., Dulhunty J. M., PAPAZİAN L., MARTİN-LOECHES I., DİMOPOULOS G., ...More

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES, vol.34, no.12, pp.2403-2411, 2015 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

Abstract

Data on the occurrence and outcome of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) are quite limited. The aim of this study was to determine if COPD intensive care unit (ICU) patients have a higher rate of VAP development, different microbiological aetiology or have worse outcomes than other patients without VAP. A secondary analysis of a large prospective, observational study conducted in 27 European ICUs was carried out. Trauma patients were excluded. Of 2082 intubated patients included in the study, 397 (19.1 %) had COPD; 79 (19.9 %) patients with COPD and 332 (19.7 %) patients without COPD developed VAP. ICU mortality increased by 17 % (p < 0.05) when COPD patients developed VAP, remaining an independent predictor of mortality [odds ratio (OR) 2.28; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.35-3.87]. The development of VAP in COPD patients was associated with a median increase of 12 days in the duration of mechanical ventilation and > 13 days in ICU stay (p < 0.05). Pseudomonas aeruginosa was more common in VAP when COPD was present (29.1 % vs. 18.7 %, p = 0.04) and was the most frequent isolate in COPD patients with early-onset VAP, with a frequency 2.5 times higher than in patients without early-onset VAP (33.3 % vs. 13.3 %, p = 0.03). COPD patients are not more predisposed to VAP than other ICU patients, but if COPD patients develop VAP, they have a worse outcome. Antibiotic coverage for non-fermenters needs to be included in the empiric therapy of all COPD patients, even in early-onset VAP.