General Facts and Figures Classification Presentation History Physical Exam Labs Radiology Diagnosis Criteria for diagnosis Differential Microbiology General Specific organisms Pharmacology Drug classes Mechanism of action Resistance Treatment General Site of care Medication Duration Assessment of response Prevention References Literature cited Complete bibliography Links More...		Presentation Radiology chest films (PA and lateral) are necessary to confirm the diagnosis 15 the radiograph will confirm the diagnosis by indicating the presence of new infiltrates although some believe that the chest radiograph is useful in narrowing the diagnosis, recent studies have concluded that it is generally not helpful for determining the etiology of the infection for your information, examples of possible radiographic findings based on etiologic organism are listed below TABLE 4. Clues from the radiograph 16 S. pneumoniae RLL preference, multilobar, occasional bronchopneumonia pattern H. influenzae RLL common but any lobe possible, occasional bronchopneumonia pattern K. pneumoniae upper lobe preference; "bulging fissure sign" M. catarrhalis lower lobe preference S. aureus no lobar predilection; commonly multilobar anaerobes (aspiration) dependent lobes involved Footnotes: 15) Bartlett JG, et al., Community-acquired pneumonia in adults: guidelines for management, The Infectious Diseases Society of America, Clinical Infectious Diseases, 1998 Apr, 26(4):811-38. 16) Karetzky M, et al., The Pneumonias, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1993.

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