title: Exhaled Breath Condensate: Technical and Diagnostic Aspects.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to evaluate the 30-year progress of research on exhaled breath condensate in a disease-based approach.
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched PubMed/Medline, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar using the following keywords: exhaled breath condensate (EBC), biomarkers, pH, asthma, gastroesophageal reflux (GERD), smoking, COPD, lung cancer, NSCLC, mechanical ventilation, cystic fibrosis, pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, interstitial lung diseases, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and drugs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found 12600 related articles in total in Google Scholar, 1807 in ScienceDirect, and 1081 in PubMed/Medline, published from 1980 to October 2014. 228 original investigation and review articles were eligible.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is rapidly increasing number of innovative articles, covering all the areas of modern respiratory medicine and expanding EBC potential clinical applications to other fields of internal medicine. However, the majority of published papers represent the results of small-scale studies and thus current knowledge must be further evaluated in large cohorts. In regard to the potential clinical use of EBC-analysis, several limitations must be pointed out, including poor reproducibility of biomarkers and absence of large surveys towards determination of reference-normal values. In conclusion, contemporary EBC-analysis is an intriguing achievement, but still in early stage when it comes to its application in clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Smoking and Lung Cancer Research Centre, Hellenic Cancer Society, 8 Doryleou Street, 11521 Athens, Greece ; Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, 4 Soranou Ephessiou Street, 11527 Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Efstathia M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Konstantinidi
authors.affiliation: Smoking and Lung Cancer Research Centre, Hellenic Cancer Society, 8 Doryleou Street, 11521 Athens, Greece ; Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, 4 Soranou Ephessiou Street, 11527 Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Andreas S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Lappas
authors.affiliation: Smoking and Lung Cancer Research Centre, Hellenic Cancer Society, 8 Doryleou Street, 11521 Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Anna S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Tzortzi
authors.affiliation: Smoking and Lung Cancer Research Centre, Hellenic Cancer Society, 8 Doryleou Street, 11521 Athens, Greece ; Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, 4 Soranou Ephessiou Street, 11527 Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Panagiotis K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Behrakis
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers; D001944:Breath Tests / Q000379:methods*; D045853:Exhalation; D006801:Humans; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers