Pneumonia differential diagnosis

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-In-Chief: Priyamvada Singh, M.D. [2]

Pneumonia Microchapters
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Differentiating Pneumonia from other Diseases

Disease	Findings
Acute bronchitis	No infiltrates on the CXR.
Asthma	Past medical history, no infiltrates on chest X Ray.
Bronchiolitis obliterans	Should be suspected in patients with pneumonia who do not respond to antibiotics treatment.
Congestive heart failure	Bilateral pulmonary edema, shortness of breath.

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• COPD - No infiltrates on chest X Ray.
• Empyema - CXR showing features of pleural effusion, inflammatory markers on thoracocentesis.
• Endocarditis with septic pulmonary emboli
• Gastroesophageal reflux disease - Normal chest X Ray, symptoms worsening during night.
• Influenza
• Lung abscess - CXR showing signs of lung abscess.
• Malignancy - CT scan and biopsy are helpful in ruling out malignancy.
• Pertussis - Productive cough for weeks, nasopharyngeal aspirate aids in diagnosis.
• Pulmonary embolus - A high degree of suspicion should be kept for pulmonary embolus. Chest X Ray may be normal.
• Sinusitis - Sinus tenderness, post nasal drip.
• Upper respiratory tract infection
• Vasculitis - Systemic manifestations of collagen vascular disease may be seen.

References

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