Clinical Features and Chest CT Diagnosis of Severe Pneumonia in Children Requiring Invasive Ventilation

Wen Chao; Duan Gaoyang; Hong Xiaochun

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1004-5775.2026.03.012

Abstract：Objective:To analyze the clinical characteristics,laboratory examination and chest CT findings of severe pneumonia in children requiring invasive ventilation.Methods:Clinical data and chest CT imaging data of children with severe pneumonia from 2018 to 2022 were analyzed retrospectively.All children were divided into invasive ventilation group(n=138)and general group(n=344)according to whether invasive ventilation was needed.The clinical features,laboratory indexes,chest CT features and treatment prognosis of the two groups were compared.Results:Among the 482 children with severe pneumonia,and 59.4%of the children with severe pneumonia who needed mechanical ventilation were less than 1 year old.The proportion of basic heart diseases,bronchopulmonary diseases,anemia and malnutrition in the mechanical ventilation group was higher than that in the control group.The proportions of cytomegalovirus and Staphylococcus aureus detected and creatine kinase-myocardial band(CK-MB)level in the mechanical ventilation group were higher than those in the control group.The proportions of lung compactification,atelectasis,pleural effusion and cardiac image enlargement on chest CT in the mechanical ventilation group were higher than those in the control group,and the differences were statistically significant(P＜0.05).Conclusion:Children with severe pneumonia requiring mechanical ventilation have certain clinical characteristics and imaging findings.Preventing underlying heart and lung diseases,improving anemia and malnutrition,and early identification of children prone to respiratory failure have great significance in reducing the incidence of severe pneumonia,increasing the cure rate and reducing the fatality rate.