Elevation of Serum Bilirubin and Blood Urea in Pneumonia

Abstract

Summary: In a study of adult patients with pneumonia in Papua New Guinea, the serum bilirubin was elevated in 45% of 42 bacteremic and 23% of 402 nonbacteremic cases and blood urea was elevated in 55% of bacteremic and 26% of non‐bacteremic episodes. Both abnormalities occurred more frequently in patients with extensive consolidation and neither was related exclusively to pneumococcal infection. Review of available evidence suggests that both prerenal and renal factors are operative in causing elevation of blood urea in pneumonia and that, similarly, elevation of bilirubin is of complex origin resulting from both pre‐hepatic and hepatic dysfunction.