Underlying Causes of Persistent and Recurrent Pneumonia in Children at a Pulmonary Referral Hospital in Tehran, Iran.

BACKGROUND: There is limited data on recurrent or persistent pneumonia in children, particularly in the developing world. This is a retrospective, cross-sectional study of children with recurrent or persistent pneumonia admitted to the Pediatric Department of Massih Daneshvari Hospital, Tehran, Iran.

METHODS: Children under 18 years of age, who were admitted to the hospital with pneumonia between 2007 and 2013, were investigated to find out the prevalence of recurrent and persistent pneumonia and to recognize their underlying diseases. Descriptive statistics were calculated for all data.

RESULTS: Out of 601 children admitted for pneumonia, 229 (38.1%) met the criteria for recurrent or persistent pneumonia. An underlying illness was identified in 194 patients (84.72%). The most common underlying causes of recurrent pneumonia included aspiration syndrome (51.75%), recurrent wheezing (20.17%), and congenital heart diseases (20.17%). The most common underlying illness of persistent pneumonia included pulmonary tuberculosis (38.75%), recurrent wheezing (28.75%), and aspiration syndrome (26.25%).

CONCLUSIONS: The result showed that the majority of patients with recurrent or persistent pneumonia had an underlying illness. New strategies and guidelines are required for early diagnosis of underlying causes of recurrent or persistent pneumonia in children.