Archivos de bronconeumología
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Arch. Bronconeumol. · Sep 2003
Multicenter Study Comparative Study[Diagnostic value of quantitative cultures of endotracheal aspirate in ventilator-associated pneumonia: a multicenter study].
To study the validity of quantitative cultures of tracheal aspirate (TA) in comparison with the plugged telescoping catheter (PTC) for the diagnosis of mechanical ventilator-associated pneumonia. ⋯ No differences in the specificities of PTC and TA were found when a TA cutoff of > or = 106 cfu/ml was used. Moreover, at a cutoff of > or = 105 the sensitivity of TA was not statistically different from that of PTC. Quantitative cultures of TA can be considered acceptable for the diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia.