Ventilator associated pneumonia

“In this study, researchers [Hefei Institutes for Physical Sciences, Hefei, China] used breath samples from 42 patients with VAP and 32 patients from the ICU who were uninfected to see if their proposed breath tester, a proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) instrument, could detect VAP quicker using exhaled volatile organic compounds (VOCs) than the standard method. Researchers also assessed which VOCs could be used to screen for VAP.Results showed this method discovered the ions that signal the presence of VAP in patients and took less than 10 minutes. The PTR-MS instrument was associated with 71.4% sensitivity and 84.4% specificity, according to researchers. “    MORE

Image Credit:   Healio