Differentiating Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia from community-acquired pneumonia using clinical features and computed tomography findings
4 affiliations
- 1Department of Radiology, Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province Affiliated to Wenzhou Medical University, Linhai, Zhejiang 317000 China
- 2Department of Radiology, Taizhou Central Hospital of Zhejiang Province affiliated to Taizhou College, Taizhou, Zhejiang China
- 3Department of Radiology, Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Shaoxing University, Taizhou, Zhejiang China
- 4Evidence-based Medicine Center, Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province affiliated to Wenzhou Medical University, Linhai, Zhejiang China
Abstract
Background: Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia (CPP) is a rare disease that is difficult to diagnose. Its clinical manifestations and chest imaging findings often overlap with those of other types of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), and nonspecific treatment is likely to lead to rapid disease progression. This study aimed to explore the clinical and radiological differences between CPP and CAP.
Methods: We enrolled 29 patients with non-severe CPP diagnosed using metagenomic next-generation sequencing, as well as 87 with CAP, who had been diagnosed between December 2019 and September 2023. The demographic, clinical, and radiological characteristics of CPP were analyzed and compared with those of CAP.
Results: Compared to the patients with CAP, those with non-severe CPP were more likely to experience fever (P = 0.034), headache (P = 0.009), asthenia (P<0.001), abnormal auscultation of the lungs (P = 0.020), and abnormal laboratory examination results—including lymphocyte count (P = 0.002), C-reactive protein (P = 0.001), aspartate aminotransferase (P<0.001), alanine aminotransferase (P<0.001), and creatine kinase levels (P<0.001). Regarding radiological characteristics, CPP predominantly showed unilateral (P = 0.003) and single-lobar (P = 0.004) involvement, whereas CAP commonly exhibited bilateral and multi-lobar involvement. CPP was more likely to be associated with air bronchograms (P = 0.026), interlobular septal thickening (P = 0.001), and bronchovascular bundle thickening (P<0.001) than CAP was.
Conclusions: Clinical epidemiology, laboratory examination, and radiological characteristics are useful for diagnosing and differentiating CPP from CAP.
Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12890-026-04556-w.
Related
- S100A8/A9 as a biomarker for differentiating pulmonary tuberculosis from community-acquired pneumonia in children: a multicenter cohort study in China
- Clinical utility of CT-based deep learning for differentiating pulmonary aspergillosis from bacterial pneumonia: a multicenter retrospective study
- Pathogen-targeted quick multiplex PCR identification of Chlamydia psittaci and Haemophilus influenzae coinfection in pneumonia: a case report.
- Clinical utility of the inflammatory burden index in differentiating neonatal pneumonia from pneumonia complicated by sepsis.
- Epidemiology, Clinical Features, and Advances in Diagnosis and Treatment of Chlamydia psittaci Pneumonia: A Narrative Review
BibTeX
@article{zhu2026differentiating,
title = {{Differentiating Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia from community-acquired pneumonia using clinical features and computed tomography findings}},
author = {Lingwei Zhu and Yicheng Fang and Lingjing Li and Haonan Fu and Yanna Wang and Shengze Jin and Meixian Zhang and Wenbin Ji},
journal = {BMC Pulmonary Medicine},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1186/s12890-026-04556-w},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s12890-026-04556-w},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Differentiating Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia from community-acquired pneumonia using clinical features and computed tomography findings
AU - Lingwei Zhu
AU - Yicheng Fang
AU - Lingjing Li
AU - Haonan Fu
AU - Yanna Wang
AU - Shengze Jin
AU - Meixian Zhang
AU - Wenbin Ji
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/10
JO - BMC Pulmonary Medicine
DO - 10.1186/s12890-026-04556-w
UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12890-026-04556-w
AB - Background: Chlamydia psittaci pneumonia (CPP) is a rare disease that is difficult to diagnose. Its clinical manifestations and chest imaging findings often overlap with those of other types of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), and nonspecific treatment is likely to lead to rapid disease progression. This study aimed to explore the clinical and radiological differences between CPP and CAP. Methods: We enrolled 29 patients with non-severe CPP diagnosed using metagenomic next-generation sequencing, as well as 87 with CAP, who had been diagnosed between December 2019 and September 2023. The demographic, clinical, and radiological characteristics of CPP were analyzed and compared with those of CAP. Results: Compared to the patients with CAP, those with non-severe CPP were more likely to experience fever (P = 0.034), headache (P = 0.009), asthenia (P<0.001), abnormal auscultation of the lungs (P = 0.020), and abnormal laboratory examination results—including lymphocyte count (P = 0.002), C-reactive protein (P = 0.001), aspartate aminotransferase (P<0.001), alanine aminotransferase (P<0.001), and creatine kinase levels (P<0.001). Regarding radiological characteristics, CPP predominantly showed unilateral (P = 0.003) and single-lobar (P = 0.004) involvement, whereas CAP commonly exhibited bilateral and multi-lobar involvement. CPP was more likely to be associated with air bronchograms (P = 0.026), interlobular septal thickening (P = 0.001), and bronchovascular bundle thickening (P<0.001) than CAP was. Conclusions: Clinical epidemiology, laboratory examination, and radiological characteristics are useful for diagnosing and differentiating CPP from CAP. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12890-026-04556-w.
SN - 1471-2466
ER -