Pneumonia Diagnosis

For pneumonia that suspected on the basis of a patient's symptoms and findings from physical examination, further investigations are needed to confirm the pneumonia diagnosis. To help getting more helpful information doctor may get it from a chest X-ray and blood tests, and sputum cultures in some cases.

The chest X-ray is typically used for diagnosis in hospitals and some clinics with X-ray facilities. It is an important test for pneumonia in unclear situations. If antibiotics fail to improve the patient's health a culture of the person's sputum may be requested. Sputum cultures generally take at least two to three days, so they are mainly used to confirm that the infection is sensitive to an antibiotic that has already been started. A blood sample may similarly be cultured to look for bacteria in the blood. Any bacteria identified are then tested to see which antibiotics will be most effective.

Differential diagnosis

The symptoms that pneumonia is not solely belong to this disease. Several diseases and/or conditions can present with similar clinical features to pneumonia and as such care must be taken in the proper diagnosis of the disease. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma can present with a polyphonic wheeze, similar to that of pneumonia. Pulmonary edema can be mistaken for pneumonia (and vice versa), especially in the elderly, due to its similar symptoms and signs. Other diseases to be taken into consideration include bronchiectasis, lung cancer and pulmonary emboli.

Main Article: Lung Disease - Pneumonia