High Glucose Levels Predict Mortality in Pneumonia

September 12, 2012 Vienna, Austria — Nondiabetic patients who have elevated serum glucose levels when they are admitted to the hospital for community-acquired pneumonia CAP have an increased risk of dying within 90 days, compared with similar normoglycemic patients.Acute hyperglycemia associated with CAP can identify at-risk patients who need additional care to reduce their risk for mortality, according to findings presented here at the European Respiratory Society 2012 Annual Congress.Studies have suggested that high serum glucose levels predispose people to CAP by increasing the risk for aspiration, decreasing immunity, and causing impaired lung function.Philipp M. Lepper, MD, from the University Hospital of Saarland in Homburg, Germany, headed a team of investigators who evaluated whether acute dysglycemia could predict a poor outcome in patients with CAP who had not been diagnosed with diabetes.

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