Bacteria isolated from biofilms of water distribution pipes and colonized catheters from hospitalized patients were studied for their haemagglutination ability, expression of lectins and hydrophobicity. Higher haemagglutination ability of clinical strains for human red blood cells was demonstrated, which could be an expression of their adaptation to the human ecosystem. Environmental strains had higher hydrophobicity, possibly related to adaptation to a low nutritive ecosystem. Expression of lectins was relatively low and comparable in both bacterial populations, but carbohydrate specificities were very different, possibly related to a different implication of these structures in the two ecosystems.

Inhaled epoprostenol (iEPO) is a continuously delivered pulmonary vasodilator that is utilized in patients with refractory hypoxemia, right heart failure, and post-cardiac surgery pulmonary hypertension. Published data have suggested that iEPO administration via vibrating mesh nebulizer (VMN) systems may lead to unexpected interruptions (UI) in drug delivery. The incidence of these events is unknown. The purpose of this study was to describe the incidence and clinical sequelae of UI in critically ill patients.