Pneumonia

Question 1

What is pneumonia?

Answer 1

Pneumonia is simply an infection of the lung tissue. It causes inflammation of the lung tissue and sputum filling the airways and alveoli. Pneumonia can be seen as consolidation on a chest x-ray.

Question 2

What is pneumonia classified by?

Answer 2

Anatomical (understand radiology)

Aetiological (how acquired, such as from a hospital or community)

Microbiology (tells us how to treat the patient)

Question 3

What are some different aetiological classifications of pneumonia?

Answer 3

Community-acquired

Hospital-acquired (nosocomial)

Pneumonia in the immunocompromised

Atypical pneumonia (caused by unusual organisms)

Aspiration pneumonia

Recurrent pneumonia

Question 4

What is a hospital-acquired infection also known as?

Answer 4

Nosocomial infection

Question 5

What are infections from hospitals more likely to be?

Answer 5

Resistant to be antibiotics

Question 6

What are some different patterns of pneumonia?

Answer 6

Bronchopneumonia

Segmental

Lobar

Hypostatic

Aspiration

Obstructive, retention, endogenous lipid

Question 7

What is hypostatic pneumonia?

Answer 7

Patient has some other pathological process that lead to the accumulation of fluid in the lung, such as cardiac failure with chronic edema

Question 8

What occurs in bronchopneumonia?

Answer 8

Acute inflammation

Pus from polymorphs replaces air

Accumulation of neutrophils in alveolar space

Question 9

What is the infected site in segmental and lobar pneumonia normally like?

Answer 9

Unilateral in a single site or area of the lung which is infected

Question 10

How does segmental and lobar pneumonia differ from bronchopneumonia?

Answer 10

Segmental and lobar are at a single site whereas broncho is multilocal

Question 11

What is bronchopneumonia characterised by?

Answer 11

Spots of infection stay around alveoli

Rare for infection to reach the pleura

Basal parts of the lungs infected

Question 12

What is lobar pneumonia characterised by?

Answer 12

Large amount of lung infected by the same inflammatory process

Could be an entire lobe

Meaning the whole part is airless due to being filled with pus

Question 13

What kind of pneumonia could lead to a pleural infection?

Answer 13

Lobar, pleural infections are rare with bronchopneumonia

Question 14

What are possible outcomes of pneumonia?

Answer 14

Most resolve

Pleurisy, pleural effusion and emphysema

Organisation

Lung abscess

Bronchiectasis

Question 15

What are examples of pneumonia leading to organisation?

Answer 15

Mass lesion

Cryptogenic organising pneumonia (COP)

Constructive bronchiolitis

Question 16

What could pneumonia lead to instead of resolution?

Answer 16

Fibrosis

Abscess (infected area dies which creates a hole in the lung)

Question 17

What can the outcome of pneumonia mimic?

Answer 17

Can result in a lump which mimics cancer, only to realise it is not cancer once it has been removed

Question 18

What is a lung abscess?

Answer 18

Necrosis of the lung and formation of a cavity

Question 19

What causes a lung abscess?

Answer 19

Necrotic lung (2nd degree infection)

Particular organisms

Obstructed bronchus (tumour)

Question 20

What can a lung abscess lead to?

Answer 20

Blood poisoning (pyaemia)

Question 21

What is pyaemia?

Answer 21

A type of septicaemia that leads to widespread abscesses (blood poisoning)