Is there still a place for microbiological sampling for the diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia?

Abstract

Diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is based on non-specific clinical signs. Several indicators have been tested in order to improve the accuracy of VAP diagnosis. The quantification of clinical parameters by using the clinical pulmonary infection score (CPIS), however, failed to improve the specificity of the diagnosis. This was the same for all the biomarkers tested either in the serum (procalcitonin, C-reactive protein) or in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid [soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 1 (sTREM 1), elastin fibers, endotoxin, pro-inflammatory cytokines, Clara cell protein 10]. The microscopic examination of endotracheal samples alone, especially of the BAL fluid, may provide useful information for the detection of infected cells. Thus, microbiology is still needed.