Biomarkers for Community-Acquired Pneumonia in the Emergency Department

Todd A. Florin*, Lilliam Ambroggio

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

24 Scopus citations

Abstract

Community-acquired pneumonia is one of the most common reasons for emergency department (ED) visits in children and adults. Despite its prevalence, there are many challenges to proper diagnosis and management of pneumonia. There is no accurate and timely etiologic gold standard to differentiate bacterial from viral disease, and there are limitations with precise risk stratification of patients to ensure appropriate site-of-care decisions. Clinical factors obtained by history and physical examination have limited the ability to diagnose pneumonia etiology and severity. Biomarkers offer information about the host response to infection and pathogen activity within the host that can serve to augment clinical features in decision-making. As science and technology progress, novel biomarkers offer great potential in aiding critical decisions for patients with pneumonia. This review summarizes existing knowledge about biomarkers of host response and pathogen activity, in addition to briefly reviewing emerging biomarkers using novel technologies.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number451
JournalCurrent Infectious Disease Reports
Volume16
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2014

Keywords

  • Adult
  • Biomarkers
  • Blood cultures
  • C-reactive protein
  • Community-acquired pneumonia
  • Diagnostic testing
  • Emergency medicine
  • Leukocyte count
  • Metabolomics
  • Pediatric
  • Polymerase chain reaction
  • Proadrenomedullin
  • Procalcitonin
  • Sputum cultures
  • Transcriptomics

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Infectious Diseases

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