[Prospective multicentre survey on clinical features and management approach to community-acquired pneumonia in emergency departments in Italy: focus on hospital admitted cases]

The correct management of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in emergency departments (EDs) is pivotal for the proper use of hospital resources and to ensure optimal management for each patient. Despite a significant body of relevant literature, several doubts remain, namely related to the optimal definition of clinical severity, the most useful criteria for sound patient allocation, the value of immediate microbiological diagnosis, and the criteria for treatment choice.