Cardiovascular complications following pneumonia: focus on pneumococcus and heart failure.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Pneumonia, an inflammatory disease, is the single largest infectious cause of death. Pneumonia has recently been established as an important contributing factor to major adverse cardiovascular events including heart failure. Developing an intermechanistic understanding of pneumonia and cardiovascular disease is crucial for successful future drug therapy and reducing healthcare expenditure.

RECENT FINDINGS: Up to 30% of patients admitted with pneumonia develop cardiovascular complications such as heart failure within 10 years of hospital discharge. Recent mechanistic studies have identified inflammation, pneumolysin, platelet activation, and thrombus formation at the center of cardiovascular disease progression.

SUMMARY: In this review, we will detail current knowledge of the mechanistic interaction between pneumonia and development of cardiovascular disease as well as discuss the current and potential drug therapy targets.