Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a new (nosocomial) lower respiratory tract infection diagnosed in mechanically ventilated patients 48 or more hours after intubation. There is no gold standard for establishing the diagnosis and its pathogenesis is iatrogenic and multifactorial. Gastro-oesophageal reflux is common in mechanically ventilated children, but its role in VAP remains speculati...

OBJECTIVE To conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis of the economic outcomes of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) prevention associated with silver-coated endotracheal tubes versus uncoated endotracheal tubes. DESIGN We used a simple decision model based on a hypothetical 1,000-patient cohort intubated with silver-coated or uncoated endotracheal tubes. The primary end point was marginal ho...

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is an important source of morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients. Many interventions are touted to prevent VAP but studies supporting these interventions are difficult to interpret owing to an exceedingly poor correlation between clinical diagnosis of VAP and the presence of an invasive pneumonia. There is consequently a risk that purported decr...

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Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) significantly increases intensive care unit morbidity, mortality, and costs. VAP is thought to be caused by bacterial entry into injured airways, which produces tracheobronchitis that evolves into diffuse pneumonia. The use of aerosolized antibiotics is conceptually attractive, especially when the infection is early and limited to the airway epithelium. Dat...

Vascular adhesion protein-1 (VAP-1) is a homodimeric glycoprotein that belongs to a unique subgroup of cell-surface-expressed oxidases. In adults, endothelial VAP-1 supports leukocyte rolling, firm adhesion, and transmigration in both enzyme activity-dependent and enzyme activity-independent manner. Here we studied the induction and function of VAP-1 during human ontogeny. We show that VAP-1 is...

BACKGROUND Ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) is a type of nosocomial pneumonia associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Knowledge about the incidence and risk factors is necessary to implement preventive measures to reduce mortality in these patients. METHOD A prospective study was conducted at a tertiary care teaching hospital for a period of 20 months from November 2009 to Jul...

Vascular adhesion protein-1 (VAP-1) is an endothelial cell adhesion molecule involved in leukocyte recruitment. Leukocytes and, in particular, macrophages play an important role in the development of choroidal neovascularization (CNV), an integral component of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Previously, we showed a role for VAP-1 in ocular inflammation. Here, we investigate the expressi...

We read with great interest the study performed by Paula Ramirez and colleagues [1]. The study included 71 patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and the authors coined a new term called “gradual VAP”. The result of this study indicated that an early antibiotic treatment for patients with gradual VAP was associated with an increased rate of early clinical response. Based on the res...