Association between inflammation in acute phase and early onset pneumonia in patients with out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest treated with extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation

BACKGROUND: Early onset pneumonia (EOP) in patients with cardiac arrest treated with targeted temperature management is a recently debated issue. We assessed the association between C‐reactive protein (CRP) levels and development of EOP in patients treated with extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR). METHODS AND RESULTS: We reviewed the data of all patients admitted to our hospital after out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest treated with ECPR between April 2006 and April 2019 who survived for at least 48 h. We collected demographic data, cardiac arrest characteristics, prophylactic antibiotic use, and neurologic outcomes. Diagnosis of EOP was made based on clinical, radiological, and microbiological criteria. The primary endpoint was the association between the incidence of EOP and CRP levels from day 1 to day 4. A total of 55 patients were included, of which 20 developed EOP. CRP levels on days 3 and 4 were significantly elevated in patients who developed EOP (13.1 [11.8–21.1] mg/dL versus 11.6 [7.4–15.2] mg/dL, P = 0.005; and 19.0 [16.9–27.1] mg/dL versus 14.7 [7.4–21.2] mg/dL, P = 0.019, respectively). In the multivariable logistic regression model, the CRP level on day 3 was significantly associated with the development of EOP (odds ratio 1.22; 95% confidence interval 1.06–1.41; P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Increased inflammation in acute phase was associated with development of EOP in patients treated with ECPR.