Loading...
The Infectious Diseases Society of America and the American Thoracic Society recommend treating patients with community-acquired pneumonia with either a fluoroquinolone or combination β-lactam/macrolide (Clin Infect Dis 2007; 44:Suppl 2:S27). One recent observational study suggested excess cardiovascular-related mortality with azithromycin use, and another did not, but neither of those studies focused specifically on patients with community-acquired pneumonia (NEJM JW Gen Med May 1 2013 and NEJM JW Gen Med May 22 2012). In this study, investigators retrospectively examined data on 63,726 patients (mean age, 78; 98% men, most with multiple comorbidities) from the Veterans Affairs system who were hospitalized with pneumonia.
Based on propensit…