Annals of the American Thoracic Society
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Open lung biopsy may be performed to guide therapy in mechanically ventilated patients with diagnostic uncertainty regarding etiology of pulmonary infiltrates. Current evidence for open lung biopsy in mechanically ventilated patients comes from single-center case series. ⋯ Among mechanically ventilated patients with respiratory failure of unclear etiology, lung biopsy yielded a wide range of diagnoses and was associated with a change in therapy in most patients.