Clinical features according to chest radiologic patterns of Mycoplasma pneumonia in children

Background: Clinical differences in Mycoplasma pneumonia (MP) in children and adolescent patients according to abnormal infiltrate patterns on the chest X-ray were compared. Methods: From 2012 to 2015, patients (n=336) diagnosed with MP at Yeungnam University Medical Center have been classified as eiher lobar pneumonia or bronchopneumonia based on the infilterate patterns observed on chest X-ray. Cases were analyzed retrospectively for gender, age, seasonal incidence rate, main symptoms (fever duration, extrapulmonary symptoms), and laboratory results, including white blood cell count, hemoglobin, platelets, C-reactive protein (CRP), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), as well as concurrent respiratory virus infection. Results: The following results were observed. First, lobar pneumonia affected 22.0% of all MP patients and was the most common in preschool children, with a high incidence rate in November and December. Second, lobar pneumonia had a longer fever duration than bronchopneumonia (p<0.001), and also showed significantly higher platelets (336.8 vs. 299.1 k/μL, p=0.026), ESR (46.3 vs. 26.0 mm/hr, p<0.001) and CRP (4.86 vs. 2.18 mg/dL, p=0.001). Third, viral co-infection was more common in bronchopneumonia (p=0.017), affecting 66.7% of infants and toddlers (p=0.034). Finaly, lobar consolidation was most common in both lower lobes. Conclusion: MP in children has increased in younger age groups, and the rate of lobar pneumonia with severe clinical symptoms is higher in older children.