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Definition

• Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is an infection of the alveoli, distal airways, and interstitium of the lungs that occurs outside the hospital setting.
  • See also Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia.
• Characterized clinically by:
  • Fever, chills, cough, pleuritic chest pain, sputum production
  • At least one opacity on chest radiography
• Manifests as four general patterns
  • Lobar pneumonia: involvement of an entire lung lobe
  • Bronchopneumonia: patchy consolidation in one or several lobes, usually in dependent lower or posterior portions centered around bronchi and bronchioles
  • Interstitial pneumonia: inflammation of the interstitium, including the alveolar walls and connective tissue around the bronchovascular tree
  • Miliary pneumonia: numerous discrete lesions due to hematogenous spread

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