TY - JOUR T1 - Untargeted Molecular Analysis of Exhaled Breath as a Diagnostic Test for Ventilator-Associated Lower Respiratory Tract Infections (BreathDx) JF - Thorax JO - Thorax DO - 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2021-217362 SP - thoraxjnl-2021-217362 AU - Pouline MP van Oort AU - Tamara M Nijsen AU - Iain R White AU - Hugo H Knobel AU - Timothy Felton AU - Nicholas Rattray AU - Oluwasola Lawal AU - Murtaza Bulut AU - Waqar Ahmed AU - Antonio Artigas AU - Pedro R Povoa AU - Ignacio Martin-Loeches AU - Hans Weda AU - Royston Goodacre AU - Marcus J Schultz AU - Paul M Dark AU - Stephen J Fowler AU - Lieuwe D Bos A2 - , Y1 - 2021/06/04 UR - http://thorax.bmj.com/content/early/2021/06/03/thoraxjnl-2021-217362.abstract N2 - Patients suspected of ventilator-associated lower respiratory tract infections (VA-LRTIs) commonly receive broad-spectrum antimicrobial therapy unnecessarily. We tested whether exhaled breath analysis can discriminate between patients suspected of VA-LRTI with confirmed infection, from patients with negative cultures. Breath from 108 patients suspected of VA-LRTI was analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The breath test had a sensitivity of 98% at a specificity of 49%, confirmed with a second analytical method. The breath test had a negative predictive value of 96% and excluded pneumonia in half of the patients with negative cultures. Trial registration number: UKCRN ID number 19086, registered May 2015. ER -