Comparison of Clinical, Laboratory and Radiological Characteristics in Hospitalized Diabetic and Non Diabetic Patients with Community Acquired Pneumonia

community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a life-threatening disease in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). DM is associated with an increased susceptibility to infection and increased morbidity and mortality. The aim of the present study was to provide information on clinical, laboratory and radiological characteristics and the outcome of CAP in patients with DM. Subjects and During a two years period (2009-2010), we studied the clinical, laboratory and radiological characteristics, the spectrum of causative agents and the outcomes of 264 cases of CAP. Data derived from 42 patients with DM were analyzed and compared with data obtained from the remaining CAP patients. Patients with DM were significantly older (P=0.02) and were more frequently associated with other co morbid conditions such as cardiac failure and hypertension (P<0.0001). Fever (P<0.0001) and dyspnea (P=0.03) were more frequent in DM patients. Lobar consolidation, bilateral infiltration and plural effusion were the most common imaging findings in chest radiography. Pleural effusion (P=0.002) and lobar consolidation ((P=0.02) were more frequently found in DM patients. By contrast, the incidence of the main etiologic agents such as S.pneumoniae (P<0.0001`) and K. pneumoniae (P=0.001) among DM patients showed significant differences in relation to the remaining patients. In the subgroup of patients with DM, mortality was significantly higher than no-diabetics (P=0.03). In patients with CAP, DM is associated with a different clinical, laboratory and radiological characteristics, and with higher rate of cardiovascular complication such as congestive heart failure and hypertension, increasing the rate of mortality