There is a striking paradox in the literature supporting high-profile measures to reduce ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP): many studies show significant reductions in VAP rates but almost none show any impact on patients' duration of mechanical ventilation, length of stay in the intensive care unit and hospital, or mortality. The paradox is largely attributable to lack of specificity in th...

OBJECTIVE Ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) is a frequent complication of mechanical ventilation (MV) and it is a leading cause of death in MV patients. The development of VAP has been demonstrated as being due to aspiration of oropharyngeal secretion, ventilator tubing condensate, or gastric contents that are colonized with pathogenic microorganisms. The aim of the present study is to isol...

PURPOSE Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is the main infectious complication in cardiac surgery patients and is associated with an important increase in morbidity and mortality. The aim of our study was to analyze the impact of VAP on mortality excluding other comorbidities and to study its etiology and the risk factors for its development. MATERIALS AND METHODS This prospective cohort s...

BACKGROUND Fibrin deposition is a hallmark of pneumonia. To determine the kinetics of alterations in local coagulation and fibrinolysis in relation to ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP), a single centre prospective study of serial changes in pulmonary and systemic thrombin generation and fibrinolytic activity was conducted in patients at risk for VAP. METHODS Non-directed bronchial lavage ...

PURPOSE Vascular adhesion protein (VAP)-1 is an adhesion molecule elucidated as a mediator of the leukocyte recruitment cascade. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of VAP-1 in ocular inflammatory neovascularization using a mouse laser-induced choroidal neovascularization (CNV) model. METHODS CNV was induced with 532 nm laser irradiation in C57BL/6 mice, and production of VA...

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a common complication of patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation support. VAP continues to be associated with high morbidity, mortality, hospital cost ($10,000 to $25,000) and ICU stay.1 Depending on the definition used, the VAP rate ranges from 1.2 to 8.5 cases per 1,000 ventilators days.2 Prevention of complications and patient safety is cur...

Ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) is a nosocomial lower respiratory tract infection that ensues in critically ill patients undergoing mechanical ventilation. The reported incidence of VAP varies between 9% and 68% with a mortality ranging between 33% and 71%. Two key factors are implicated in the pathogenesis of VAP: bacterial colonization of the upper digestive-respiratory tract and aspira...

This article describes the experiences of a Canadian multidisciplinary critical care team striving to reduce the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Several interventions, including a VAP bundle, were used and applied across a health region. Our regional VAP rate has seen a steady decline over the past 12 months and has been largely under our goal of 9.8 cases per 1,000 ventilat...

Background. Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is one of the most common causes of hospital morbidity and mortality, but has been poorly studied in the South African context. Objective. To evaluate the incidence and outcome of VAP in the intensive care units (ICUs) of two major centres in the Durban metropolitan area. Methods. The study was conducted over a period of 6 months with all intuba...

Given the important role of inflammation and the potential association of the leukocyte trafficking-associated adhesion molecule vascular adhesion protein 1 (VAP-1) with atherosclerosis, this study examined whether functional VAP-1 is expressed in atherosclerotic lesions and, if so, whether it could be targeted by positron emission tomography (PET). First, immunohistochemistry revealed that VAP...