Abstract

Infectious Pneumonia is a worldwide public health problem. It is a single largest infectious cause of death in children worldwide. Chest X ray is a non invasive, economical medical test that helps physicians to diagnose and treat medical conditions including infectious pneumonia. The aim of this study is to know the prevalence of infectious pneumonia among immunocompetent individuals and the various patterns of pneumonia on chest X-ray. Patients attending General Medicine OPD with persisting symptoms of pneumonia were selected to do this study. Chest x-ray taken and findings were correlated with clinical features, blood and sputum investigations for accurate diagnosis. Cough and fever were the most common presenting features seen in 86.4% and 70.2% of the patients respectively. Lobar consolidation was predominant pattern seen in 46 (62.1%) patients, followed by diffuse consolidation among 10 (13.5%) patients. Out of 74 patients 47 (63.1%) were confirmed by bacterial culture. Sputum samples reported with Streptococcus pneumoniae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Tuberculosis were identified mostly from lobar pneumonia cases. Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, Acinetobacter were isolated from bronchopneumonia cases. Diagnosing of Infectious pneumonia by various imaging patterns of chest x ray needs expertise. Studying Chest x-ray imaging patterns and their correlation with microbiological investigations helps us to diagnose accurately and start appropriate treatment