Progression of the Radiologic Severity Index predicts mortality in patients with parainfluenza virus-associated lower respiratory infections.

• Main Authors: Ajay Sheshadri, Dimpy P Shah, Myrna Godoy, Jeremy J Erasmus, Juhee Song, Liang Li, Scott E Evans, Roy F Chemaly, Burton F Dickey, David E Ost
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2018-01-01
• Series: PLoS ONE
• Online Access: http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5957350?pdf=render

BACKGROUND:Radiologic severity may predict adverse outcomes after lower respiratory tract infection (LRI). However, few studies have quantified radiologic severity of LRIs. We sought to evaluate whether a semi-quantitative scoring tool, the Radiologic Severity Index (RSI), predicted mortality after parainfluenza virus (PIV)-associated LRI. METHODS:We conducted a retrospective review of consecutively-enrolled adult patients with hematologic malignancy or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and with PIV detected in nasal wash who subsequently developed radiologically-confirmed LRI. We measured RSI (range 0-72) in each chest radiograph during the first 30 days after LRI diagnosis. We used extended Cox proportional hazards models to identify factors associated with mortality after onset of LRI with all-cause mortality as our failure event. RESULTS:After adjustment for patient characteristics, each 1-point increase in RSI was associated with an increased hazard of death (HR 1.13, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05-1.21, p = 0.0008). Baseline RSI was not predictive of death, but both peak RSI and the change from baseline to peak RSI (delta-RSI) predicted mortality (odds ratio for mortality, peak: 1.11 [95%CI 1.04-1.18], delta-RSI: 1.14 [95%CI 1.06-1.22]). A delta-RSI of ≥19.5 was 89% sensitive and 91% specific in predicting 30-day mortality. CONCLUSIONS:We conclude that the RSI offers precise, informative and reliable assessments of LRI severity. Progression of RSI predicts 30-day mortality after LRI, but baseline RSI does not. Our results were derived from a cohort of patients with PIV-associated LRI, but can be applied in validated in other populations of patients with LRI.