title: [Evaluation of quantitative cultures of endotracheal aspirates for pediatric ventilator-associated pneumonia diagnosis: analytic, prospective study].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is dificult to diagnose because of the absence of a gold standard.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the use of quantitative cultures of endotracheal aspirates for diagnosis of pediatric VAP and to obtain acceptable sensitivity and specificity cutoff points.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective, analytic study which included patients under 15 years, who were connected to mechanical ventilation at Hospital Luis Calvo Mackenna's intensive care units. They were classified as cases or controls according to NNIS criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During a period of 21 months we recruited a total of 43 patients with a mean age of 16 months. We obtained endotracheal aspirated samples to perform quantitative cultures. Most frequently isolated pathogens were Staphylococcus aureus (34.5%) and non-fermentative Gram-negative bacilli (24.1%). We obtained a sensitivity of 88%, specificity of 70%, PPV of 82%, and NPV of 79% for samples greater than 10(6) CFU.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Quantitative culture of endotracheal aspirates is a reliable method for diagnosing pediatric VAP when the value is greater than 10 CFU.
authors: Servicio de Pediatría, Unidad de Infectología (PCD), Hospital Luis Calvo Mackenna, Santiago, Chile. paolacontrerasg@gmail.com
authors: Paola
authors: P
authors: Contreras
authors: Beatriz
authors: B
authors: Milet
authors: Paulina
authors: P
authors: Coria
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000382:microbiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015278:Intensive Care Units, Pediatric; D008297:Male; D053717:Pneumonia, Ventilator-Associated / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity