RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Untargeted Molecular Analysis of Exhaled Breath as a Diagnostic Test for Ventilator-Associated Lower Respiratory Tract Infections (BreathDx)
JF Thorax
JO Thorax
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Thoracic Society
SP thoraxjnl-2021-217362
DO 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2021-217362
A1 Pouline MP van Oort
A1 Tamara M Nijsen
A1 Iain R White
A1 Hugo H Knobel
A1 Timothy Felton
A1 Nicholas Rattray
A1 Oluwasola Lawal
A1 Murtaza Bulut
A1 Waqar Ahmed
A1 Antonio Artigas
A1 Pedro R Povoa
A1 Ignacio Martin-Loeches
A1 Hans Weda
A1 Royston Goodacre
A1 Marcus J Schultz
A1 Paul M Dark
A1 Stephen J Fowler
A1 Lieuwe D Bos
A1 ,
YR 2021
UL http://thorax.bmj.com/content/early/2021/07/01/thoraxjnl-2021-217362.abstract
AB 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.