Corrigendum to “Procalcitonin as a biomarker for ventilator associated pneumonia in COVID-19 patients: Is it an useful stewardship tool?” [Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis 2021;101(2):115344]

Thoracic ultrasound alone or in combination with tracheal amylase as a tool predictor of ventilator-associated pneumonia in neurocritical patients

“…VAP was identified in 16 patients (37.2%) of the total population with neurocritical diseases. The severity of neurocritical disease was evaluated using the Glasgow score, SOFA score, and APACHE II score; and the median Glasgow score in the total population was 7 points (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15). In 36 patients (83.7%) the Glasgow score was less than 8 at the time of ward admission and required urgent intubation.…”

“…There was no association between Glasgow score and urgent intubation with the development of VAP (P = .59). The median SOFA score in the first 24 hours was 6 points (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16) in the VAP group versus 6 (0-14) in the non-VAP group, without a statistically significant difference (P = .49) and the median SOFA score at 48 hours was 6.5 points (4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14) in the VAP group versus 7 (0-14) in the non-VAP group, without a statistically significant difference (P = .44) (See Table 1). The median APACHE II score in the first 24 hours was 16.5 (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28) in the VAP group versus 17 in the non-VAP group, without a statistically significant difference (P = .54).…”

“…[4] Currently, there are no validated biomarkers for VAP diagnosis. Several biomarkers have been studied to predict the severity and prognosis of VAP, such as interleukin-18 (IL-18) and soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 1 (sTREM-1), [9,10] histidine-rich glycoprotein, [11] pentraxin 3, [12] procalcitonin, [13,14] breath octane, acetaldehyde, [15] and C-reactive protein. [16] Procalcitonin, C-reactive protein, sTREM-1, and HRC have proven to be predictors of VAP; however, most are markers of inflammation, making them nonspecific.…”

“…[16] Procalcitonin, C-reactive protein, sTREM-1, and HRC have proven to be predictors of VAP; however, most are markers of inflammation, making them nonspecific. [9][10][11]13,14,16] Recently, the α-amylase concentration in tracheal secretions and bronchoalveolar lavage has been reported as a potentially useful marker for diagnosing microaspiration and bacterial pneumonia. [3,5,17] This marker is inexpensive and easily measured and could be an attractive marker for predicting the development of early VAP.…”

Prevention and treatment of ventilator-associated pneumonia in COVID-19

“…It is reported that procalcitonin (PCT) can help distinguish virus from bacterial pathogens in patients with VAP, and typical bacteria tend to present higher procalcitonin levels than atypical bacteria or viruses ( Self et al, 2017 ; Modi and Kovacs, 2020 ). The data of a clinical study suggested that the patients whose PCT was over 0.975 ng/ml were more likely to have VAP, showing that PCT may be an applicable biomarker for VAP diagnosis ( Côrtes et al, 2021 ). In addition, immature granulocytes (IGs) was considered that the threshold was 18% or 2 g/L, and the sensitivity and specificity to identify patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia were 100%, supporting IGs could be a biomarker to help identify pulmonary bacterial infections in this population ( Daix et al, 2021 ).…”