• A Tessmer, T Welte, P Martus, M Schnoor, R Marre, and N Suttorp.
• Department of Infectious Disease and Respiratory Medicine, Charité-University Medicine, Berlin, Germany. antje.tessmer@charite.de
• J. Antimicrob. Chemother. 2009 May 1;63(5):1025-33.

ObjectivesGuidelines recommend dual-therapy consisting of a beta-lactam/macrolide (BLM) for hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia. Nevertheless, the superiority over beta-lactam-monotherapy (BL) remains unproven.MethodsAnalyses from an observational study initiated by the German competence network CAPNETZ were performed.ResultsOne thousand eight hundred and fifty-four patients were treated with either BL (49.0%) or BLM (51.0%). BLM therapy was associated with lower adjusted 14 day mortality [odds ratio (OR) 0.53; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.30-0.94]. CRB65, neoplastic disease, age and nursing home residency were confirmed as independent predictors of death. Adjusted 14 day mortality risk was clearly reduced in patients with CRB65 = 2 (n = 411; OR 0.35; CI: 0.12-0.99) and CRB65 > or = 2 (n = 519; OR 0.42; CI: 0.18-0.997). However, this could not be shown for adjusted 30 day mortality. Patients with CRB65 < or = 1 showed low mortality (2.1%) without the influence of BLM. BLM therapy was associated with lower adjusted risk of treatment failure at 14 days (n = 1854; OR 0.65; CI: 0.47-0.89) and 30 days (OR 0.69; CI: 0.51-0.94) as well as in the subgroup of patients with CRB65 = 2 and CRB65 > or = 2.ConclusionsThis study suggests the superiority of BLM therapy in patients with CRB65 risk classes of 2 or higher on 14 day mortality. BLM therapy was also associated with lower risk of treatment failure.

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