PURPOSE: To evaluate the diagnostic utility of ante-mortem tracheal aspirates for diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Trauma victims represent an otherwise healthy population, who are on multiple invasive life-support devices, which predispose them to severe infections like VAP. The diagnosis of VAP is challenging, due to the difficulty in obtaining a representative sample from lungs. We studied the diagnostic utility of tracheal aspirates by comparing its results with the post-mortem lung cultures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 106 fatal trauma patients were included in the study. Lung samples and cardiac blood were taken for culture at the time of autopsy. The results of ante-mortem and post-mortem cultures were compared. RESULTS: Septicemia was the cause of death in 51 (48%) of the fatal cases and VAP was identified in 36 (34%) cases. A total of 96 (90.5%) cases had pathogens isolated from lung samples. In 62 (58%) cases, the same organism was isolated from ante-mortem and post-mortem respiratory samples. CONCLUSIONS: Culture results of a properly collected tracheal aspirate should be taken into consideration along with Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC's) diagnostic criteria to maximise the diagnosis of VAP.
PURPOSE: To evaluate the diagnostic utility of ante-mortem tracheal aspirates for diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Trauma victims represent an otherwise healthy population, who are on multiple invasive life-support devices, which predispose them to severe infections like VAP. The diagnosis of VAP is challenging, due to the difficulty in obtaining a representative sample from lungs. We studied the diagnostic utility of tracheal aspirates by comparing its results with the post-mortem lung cultures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 106 fatal traumapatients were included in the study. Lung samples and cardiac blood were taken for culture at the time of autopsy. The results of ante-mortem and post-mortem cultures were compared. RESULTS:Septicemia was the cause of death in 51 (48%) of the fatal cases and VAP was identified in 36 (34%) cases. A total of 96 (90.5%) cases had pathogens isolated from lung samples. In 62 (58%) cases, the same organism was isolated from ante-mortem and post-mortem respiratory samples. CONCLUSIONS: Culture results of a properly collected tracheal aspirate should be taken into consideration along with Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC's) diagnostic criteria to maximise the diagnosis of VAP.
Authors: Basem Al-Omari; Peter McMeekin; A Joy Allen; Ahsan R Akram; Sara Graziadio; Jana Suklan; William S Jones; B Clare Lendrem; Amanda Winter; Milo Cullinan; Joanne Gray; Kevin Dhaliwal; Timothy S Walsh; Thomas H Craven Journal: BMC Pulm Med Date: 2021-06-09 Impact factor: 3.317
Authors: Subodh Kumar; Nidhi Bhardwaj; Surbhi Khurana; Amit Gupta; Kapil Dev Soni; Richa Aggrawal; Purva Mathur Journal: Indian J Crit Care Med Date: 2016-09