The characteristics of patients with previous residence in mainland China admitted to the intensive care unit in Hong Kong with community-acquired pneumonia

Includes bibliographical references.Thesis (P. Dip.)--University of Hong Kong, 2012."This work is submitted to the Department of Microbiology, the University of Hong Kong in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Postgraduate Diploma in Infectious Diseases (PDipID) 2010-2012."Objectives: To review the characteristics, outcomes, patterns of infection, and predictors of mortality in critically ill patients with community acquired pneumonia from the Mainland China requiring intensive care in Hong Kong Design: Retrospective cohort study Setting: A regional hospital in Hong Kong Patients: Critically ill patients who lived in the Mainland and were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of North District Hospital (NDH) from September 2008 to August 2010 Intervention: None Measurements and Results: Fifty one patients (median age, 50 years) were analyzed. It accounts for 4.1% of our annual ICU admission. The median APACHE II, SOFA, and CURB-65 scores are 24.5, 10.5, and 6 respectively. Most of these patients required mechanical ventilator support (n=42, 84%) in our unit. Pathogenic organisms can be identified in the majority of these patients (n=33, 66%). The most common organism was Streptococcus pneumoniae. Confusion, blood urea level greater than 7 mmol/L, and higher APACHE II / CURB-65 scores are considered as poor prognostic factors. Conclusions: Community acquired pneumonia is a common cause of intensive care admission among patients living in the Mainland with a significant mortality. Better understanding of their characteristics is important.published_or_final_versionMicrobiologyPostgraduate diplomaPostgraduate Diploma in Infectious Disease