Early and Late Cardiovascular Events in Patients Hospitalized for Community-Acquired Pneumonia.

INTRODUCTION

Community-acquired pneumonia increases the risk of cardiovascular events (CVE). The objective of this study was to analyze host, severity, and etiology factors associated with the appearance of early and late events and their impact on mortality.

METHOD: Prospective multicenter cohort study in patients hospitalized for pneumonia. CVE and mortality rates were collected at admission, 30-day follow-up (early events), and one-year follow-up (late events).

RESULTS

In total, 202 of 1,967 (10.42%) patients presented early CVE and 122 (6.64%) late events; 16% of 1-year mortality was attributed to cardiovascular disease. The host risk factors related to cardiovascular complications were: age ≥65 years, smoking, and chronic heart disease. Alcohol abuse was a risk factor for early events, whereas obesity, hypertension, and chronic renal failure were related to late events. Severe sepsis and Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI) ≥3 were independent risk factors for early events, and only PSI ≥3 for late events. Streptococcus pneumoniae was the microorganism associated with most cardiovascular complications. Developing CVE was an independent factor related to early (OR 2.37) and late mortality (OR 4.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Age, smoking, chronic heart disease, initial severity, and S. pneumoniae infection are risk factors for early and late events, complications that have been related with an increase of the mortality risk during and after the pneumonia episode. Awareness of these factors can help us make active and early diagnoses of CVE in hospitalized CAP patients and design future interventional studies to reduce cardiovascular risk.