OBJECTIVENoncystic fibrosis (non-CF) bronchiectasis remains as a common health problem in Asia. Pathogens' distribution in airways of patients with non-CF bronchiectasis is important for doctors to make right decision.

DATA SOURCESWe performed this systematic review on the English language literatures from 1966 to July 2014, using various search terms included "pathogens" or "bacteria" or "microbiology" and "bronchiectasis" or "non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis" or "non-CF bronchiectasis" or "NCFB."

STUDY SELECTIONWe included studies of patients with the confirmed non-CF bronchiectasis for which culture methods were required to sputum or bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). Weighted mean isolation rates for Haemophilus influenzae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Stapylococcus aureus, Moxarella catarrhails were compared according to different methodology.

RESULTSThe total mean bacterial culture positive rates were 63%. For studies using sputum samples, the mean positive culture rates were 74%. For studies using BALF alone or BALF and sputum, it was 48%. The distributions of main bacterial strains were 29% for H. influenzae, 28% for P. aeruginosa, 11% for S. pneumoniae, 12% for S. aureus, and 8% for M. catarrhails with methodology of sputum. Meanwhile, the bacterial distributions were 37% for H. influenzae, 8% for P. aeruginosa, 14% for S. pneumoniae, 5% for S. aureus, and 10% for M. catarrhails with methodology of BALF alone or BALF and sputum. Analysis of the effect of different methodology on the isolation rates revealed some statistically significant differences.

CONCLUSIONSH. influenzae accounted for the highest percentage in different methodology. Our results suggested that the total positive culture rates and the proportion of P. aeruginosa from sputum and BALF specimens had significant differences, which can be used in further appropriate recommendations for the treatment of non-CF bronchiectasis.

Bronchiectasis ; microbiology ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid ; microbiology ; Haemophilus influenzae ; pathogenicity ; Humans ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa ; pathogenicity ; Sputum ; microbiology

OBJECTIVETo study the value of bacterial cultures of bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALF) in children with pulmonary infection.

METHODSBacterial cultures sampled from both sputum and BALF were performed on 80 hospitalized children with pulmonary infection between June 2008 and February 2011.Culture results between the two samples were compared.

RESULTSIn the 80 children with pulmonary infection, bacterial cultures of BALF showed that Viridans Streptococci were found in 72 cases (90%), Neisseria in 41 cases (51%), Streptococcus pneumoniae in 11 cases (14%), Staphylococcus Aureus in 3 cases (4%) and Escherichia coli in 3 cases (4%). The positive rates of Viridans Streptococci in the bacterial cultures of BALF was not significantly different from the bacterial cultures of sputum, but the positive rate of Streptococcus pneumoniae in the bacterial cultures of BALF was significantly higher than in the bacterial cultures of sputum (4%). Moreover, Escherichia coli were found only by bacterial cultures of BALF.

CONCLUSIONSBacterial cultures of BALF are useful in the identification of pathogenic bacteria for pulmonary infection in children. Due to the samples taken from the lesion regions in bacterial cultures of BALF, the results of may be more reliable.

Bacteria ; isolation & purification ; Bacterial Infections ; microbiology ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid ; microbiology ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Lung Diseases ; microbiology ; Male

BACKGROUNDThe presence of intracellular organisms (ICOs) in polymorphonuclear leukocytes obtained from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) is a possible method for rapid diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). However, the validity of this diagnostic method remains controversial and the diagnostic thresholds reported by investigators were different. Our objective was to evaluate the accuracy of quantification of ICOs in BALF for the diagnosis of VAP, and to detect the best cutoff percentage of PMNs containing ICOs (PIC) in the microscopic examination of BALF for the diagnosis of VAP.

METHODSThis was a prospective multi-center study conducted in 4 ICUs in Wuhan, China, which involved 181 patients suspected of first episode of VAP. BALF was obtained from all enrolled patients. The BALF samples underwent quantitative culture, cytological and bacteriological analysis to detect the culture results, PIC values and the morphological features of microorganisms. Definite diagnosis of VAP was based on pre-set criteria. The receiver-operating characteristic curve was used to detect the best cutoff point for PIC to diagnose VAP, and the diagnostic accuracy was calculated. Moreover, quantitative culture and Gram's stain of BALF were adopted to diagnose VAP, and their diagnostic accuracy was evaluated as well.

RESULTSThere were 102 patients definitely diagnosed with VAP (VAP group), and 60 patients definitely diagnosed without VAP (no VAP group). We found that ICOs were present in 96.08% (98 out of 102) of VAP patients and 20.00% (12 out of 60) of no VAP patients. The PICs were significantly higher ((9.53 ± 6.65)% vs. (0.52 ± 1.33)%, P < 0.01) in VAP group. In our study, the best cutoff point for PIC to diagnose VAP was 1.5%,which had a sensitivity of 94.12%, a specificity of 88.33%, a positive predictive value (PPV) of 93.20% and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 89.83%.The area under the receiveroperating characteristic curve was 0.956 (95% confidence interval,0.925-0.986; P < 0.01). When the positive quantitative culture results of BALF were used to diagnose VAP, the sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV were 65.69%, 95.00%, 95.71% and 61.96%, respectively. Whereas they were 70.59%, 76.67%, 83.72% and 60.53%, respectively, when the positive Gram's stain results of BALF were used to diagnose VAP. The concordance between the results of Gram's stain and quantitative cultures was poor, only 32.10% (52 out of 162) was totally right, and 17.28% (28 out of 162) was partially right.

CONCLUSIONSPIC>1.5% has good diagnostic performance in the microscopic examination of BALF for the diagnosis of VAP. However, Gram's stain is not reliable for the early application of antibiotic therapy, due to the poor bacteriological predictive value.

Aged ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid ; microbiology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pneumonia, Ventilator-Associated ; diagnosis ; Prospective Studies

OBJECTIVETo compare the detection rates of Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) from nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPA) and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in children with pneumonia.

METHODSA total of 164 hospitalized children with pneumonia were enrolled. NPA and BALF of these children were collected within 24 hours of admission, and MP-DNA was detected by fluorescence quantitative PCR. Venous blood samples of all these children were collected within 24 hours of admission and on days 7-10 of treatment, and serum MP-IgM was detected using ELISA.

RESULTSThe positive rate of MP-DNA in NAP of the 164 cases was 51.8% , which was lower than 63.4% as the detection rate of MP-IgM in serum (P=0.044), and the two detection rates were moderately consistent with each other (Kappa=0.618, P<0.01). The positive rate of MP in BALF was 71.3%, which was not significantly different with that of MP-IgM in serum (P>0.05), and the detection rates were well consistent (Kappa=0.793, P<0.01). The detection rate of MP in NPA was lower than that in BALF (P<0.01), with moderate consistency between two of them (Kappa=0.529, P<0.01). The median MP copy number in BALF was significantly higher than that in NPA (P<0.01). The MP detection rates in NPA and BALF were significantly different among different courses of disease (P<0.05). As the course of disease extended, the MP detection rates in both NPA and BALF showed a declining trend; children with MP pneumonia of 1-2 weeks' duration and 2-4 weeks' duration had a higher MP-DNA detection rate in BALF than in NPA (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSMP-DNA in BALF has a high sensitivity, with a great significance for early diagnosis of MP pneumonia, while NPA MP-DNA tests may lead to a missed diagnosis.

Adolescent ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid ; microbiology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; DNA, Bacterial ; analysis ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Nasopharynx ; microbiology ; Pneumonia, Mycoplasma ; diagnosis

Rothia mucilaginosa is a gram-positive coccus of the family Micrococcaceae. R. mucilaginosa is considered a part of the normal flora of the human oropharynx and upper respiratory tract and lower respiratory tract infections attributable to R. mucilaginosa are not frequent. We present a case of pneumonia, in which the R. mucilaginosa infection was diagnosed by quantitative cultures of a bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) specimen. A 46-yr-old woman with B lymphoblastic lymphoma was admitted to the hospital for scheduled chemotherapy. Her chest computed tomography (CT) scan revealed bilateral multifocal nodular and patchy consolidation in both lungs. Investigation of the BAL specimen revealed that 7% of leukocytes had intracellular gram-positive cocci. The quantitative cultures of the BAL specimen grew mucoid, non-hemolytic, and grayish convex colonies on blood agar at a count of approximately 200,000 colony-forming units/mL. The colonies were identified as R. mucilaginosa. The patient was empirically treated with levofloxacin for 7 days, after which findings on the chest radiograph and CT scan improved. She was discharged with improvement on hospital day 46. To our knowledge, this is the first report of R. mucilaginosa pneumonia diagnosed in Korea. Quantitative culture of BAL specimen and examination of intracellular organisms are crucial for assessing the clinical significance of R. mucilaginosa recovered from the lower respiratory tract.
Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid/*microbiology ; Female ; Humans ; Lung/radiography ; Lymphoma/complications/*diagnosis ; Micrococcaceae/*isolation & purification ; Middle Aged ; Pneumonia/complications/*diagnosis/microbiology ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effectiveness of the flexible bronchoscopy in the diagnosis and treatment of refractory pneumonia among children.

METHODSSixty children with refractory pneumonia were randomly divided into two groups: lavage and control (n=30 each). The control group received conventional medical treatment. The lavage group was given flexible bronchoscopy besides conventional medical treatment. The therapeutic effects were compared between the two groups. The results of bacterial culture and detection of antibodies against Mycoplasma pneumoniae in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were observed.

RESULTSThe coincidence of bacterial culture results between BALF and sputum samples was 63.3%, and there were no significant differences in the positive bacterial culture results between them. The coincidence of PCR test for antibodies against Mycoplasma pneumoniae between BALF and serum samples was 73.3%. The results of Fisher's exact test showed the positive rate of Mycoplasma pneumoniae antibodies of BALF was higher than that of serum (P<0.05). The effective rate in the lavage group was significantly higher than that in the control group (97% vs 73%; P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONSThe flexible bronchoscopy is useful for the diagnosis and treatment of refractory pneumonia in children.

Bacteria ; isolation & purification ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid ; microbiology ; Bronchoscopy ; methods ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Pneumonia ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Therapeutic Irrigation

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid ; Feasibility Studies ; Female ; Hematologic Neoplasms ; microbiology ; Humans ; Lung Diseases, Fungal ; diagnosis ; etiology ; Male ; Mannans ; analysis ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo study the concentrations of IL-4 and IL-13 in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in neonates with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) and concurrent ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).

METHODSSixty-eight neonates with RDS undergoing mechanical ventilation for over 48 hrs were enrolled. IL-4 and IL-13 levels in BALF were measured using ELISA 1, 72 and 96 hrs after mechanical ventilation. The results were compared between the neonates with concurrent VAP (n=37) and without (n=31).

RESULTSThe levels of BALF IL-4 96 hrs after ventilation in the VAP group (35.34+/-1.78 ng/mL) were significantly higher than those in the non-VAP group (13.69+/-2.47 ng/mL, P<0.05). The levels of BALF IL-13 96 hrs after ventilation in the VAP group (33.74+/-2.74 ng/mL) also increased significantly compared with those in the non-VAP group (13.50+/-3.81 ng/mL) (P<0.05). There were significant differences in BALF IL-4 and IL-13 levels between 1 hr and 96 hrs in the VAP group (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSBALF IL-4 and IL-13 levels increase in neonates with RDS and concurrent VAP. IL-4 and IL-13 may involve in the regulation of the inflammatory immune response.

Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid ; immunology ; Female ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Interleukin-13 ; analysis ; Interleukin-4 ; analysis ; Male ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Pneumonia, Ventilator-Associated ; immunology ; microbiology ; Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Adult ; immunology

No abstract available.
Anti-Infective Agents/*therapeutic use ; Bacteria/*drug effects/*isolation & purification ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid/*microbiology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Pneumonia, Bacterial/*drug therapy

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections ; diagnosis ; microbiology ; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ; diagnosis ; microbiology ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid ; microbiology ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Methenamine ; Pneumocystis carinii ; isolation & purification ; Pneumonia, Pneumocystis ; diagnosis ; microbiology ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Silver Staining ; methods