• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.67-74
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• 2005

Purpose : The incidence of mortality associated with respiratory difficulties is decreasing nowadays contributed to the development of neonatology. However, complications associated with mechanical ventilator are increasing. This study is to determine clinical manifestations, diagnositc availability of the endotracheal tip culture in patients with Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia(VAP) in neonatal intensive care unit(NICU). Methods : A retrospective analysis of 50 neonates who were admitted to the NICU of Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital and had given mechanical ventilator from 1 January 2000 to 30 June 2003. VAP group defined as neonates who had pneumonia with mechanical ventilation longer than 48 hours. They were classified into VAP group(n=13) and control group (n=37) and the prevalence, microorganisms cultured from the endotracheal tube tip and risk factors were investigated. Results : The prevalence of VAP was 26.0%(n=13) and the most dominant microorganism cultured in our NICU was methicillin-resistant coagulase negative staphylococcus(MR-CNS) in 4 cases. Other microorganisms were Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA) and Klebsiella. Gestational age, birth weight, Apgar score, respiratory distress syndrome, retinopathy of prematurity, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, sepsis, renal failure, pulmonary hemorrhage, pneumothorax were not different significantly between two groups except intraventricular hemorrhage(P<0.001) and patent ductus arteriosus(P<0.05). Duration of hospital stay and mortality rate were also not different significantly. Conclusion : VAP occurred at a significant rate among mechanically ventilated NICU patients. Despite of limitation of encotracheal tip culture, the most common microorganism was MR-CNS. We should be aware of occurrence of VAP in NICU neonate who were with mechanical ventilator and should treat with great care.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.34 no.7
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• pp.1315-1325
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• 2004

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a closed endotracheal suction system(CES) on oxygen saturation, ventilator associated pneumonia(VAP), and nursing efficacy in mechanically ventilated patients. Method: This study was conducted in the intensive care unit of a University Hospital in Gwangju City. Data was collected from July to October, 2003. Seventy mechanically ventilated patients were randomly divided into two groups; 32 for CES and 38 for open endotracheal suction system(OES) protocol. Twenty one nurses were also involved to examine the nurses' attitude of usefulness about CES. Result: $SaO_2$ was significantly different between CES and OES. The incidence of VAP in CES was lower than that of OES. Nursing efficacy was related to time, cost, and usefulness of the suction system. Time of suctioning in CES was shorter than that of OES. CES also contributed significantly to lower the cost of treatment than OES. The usefulness score of CES increased after 6 months of use. Conclusion: CES prevented VAP, was cost effective, and a safe suctioning system. CES can be used with patients with sensitivity to hypoxygenation and with a high risk of VAP.

• Journal of Korean Critical Care Nursing
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.27-38
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of tooth-brushing oral care on oral health and ventilator-associated pneumonia of patients in Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Methods: A total of 74 participants were recruited from a medical, surgical, or neurosurgical ICU at S Hospital in Seoul, Korea, from September of 2010 to January of 2011. An experimental group (n= 36) received oral care with tooth-brushing while a control group (n=38) received oral care with cotton ball and gauze. In both group, the oral care was done three times a day at least one minute for 7 days. Oral health was examined by the Modified Oral Assessment Guide before the intervention and each night. Results: There is no difference between the groups in aspect of passage of time (p = .603), interaction between time and intervention (p =.300), the performance intervention (p = .766), and the incidence of VAP (p = .486). Conclusion: The effect of oral care with tooth-brushing on oral health and VAP was not different from that of usual oral care in ICU. However, further study is necessary due to high attrition in this study.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.630-644
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• 2021

This study was conducted to develop evidence-based nursing practice guideline for the prevention of VAP. This is a methodological study to develop guideline and verify the effectiveness according to the hybrid method of the NECA. Topics and key questions were derived through literature review and interviews, and recommendations were converged and developed through guidelines review and SR and meta-analysis. This was verified through the RAND and evaluated through AGREEII. The clinical feasibility of the nursing practice guideline, consisting of 44 recommendations in 9 categories, was evaluated by 122 ICU nurses. Conclusively this evidence-based nursing practice guideline for the prevention of VAP was confirmed methodological quality and content validity and was suitable for our nursing practice environment.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.65 no.3
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• pp.198-206
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• 2008

Background: Tracheobronchial suctioning using the closed suctioning system has physiological benefits for critically ill patients. Despite these benefits, there are concerns about increased colonization of tracheobronchial tree by pathogenic organisms. The cost is another hinder to the introduction of closed suction system. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of colonization and ventilator associated pneumonia and the cost-effectiveness of closed suction compared with open suction. Methods: During separated one month period, patients admitted MICU were cared by multiple-use, open suction, single-use, open suction and multiple-use, closed suction method, consecutively. Costs, colonization of tracheobronchial tree by MRSA and the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) were analyzed. Results: One-hundred and six patients were enrolled. Twenty patients were treated with multiple-use, open suction, while 42 and 44 patients were cared with single-use, open catheter and multiple-use, closed catheter, respectively. Colonization by MRSA and the incidence of VAP were not different among three ways of suctioning. The overall costs per patient per day for suctioning were $10.58 for multiple-use, open suction, $28.27 for single-use, open suction and $23.76 for multiple-use, closed suction. Conclusion: Multiple-use, closed suctioning, when suction catheters were changed every 48 hrs, has the similar incidence of colonization of MRSA and occurrence of VAP and is a cost-efficient way of endotracheal suction.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.75-80
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• 2015

Purpose: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a serious threat in critically ill pediatric patients. Data regarding Stenotrophomonas maltophilia VAP in pediatric population is limited. We evaluated the clinical data of S. maltophilia associated VAP in critically ill pediatric patients. Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed in pediatric patients 18 years old or younger who developed S. maltophilia associated VAP at Samsung Medical Center, Seoul Korea from January 2008 to December 2012. Results: A total of 31 patients were identified S. maltophilia associated VAP. Median age was 8 months (range, 0.5 month to 16.6 years) and 13 patients were male (40.6%). Underlying illnesses were cardiologic diseases (n=11, 34.4%), hematologic oncologic malignancies (n=7, 25%), neurologic diseases (n=4, 12.5%), pulmonary diseases (n=3, 9.4%), and others (n=4, 12.5%). The median duration of ventilator use before S. maltophilia VAP diagnosis was 14 days (range, 4-256 days). Overall mortality at 30 days was 12.5% (4/32). Conclusions: S. maltophilia should be also considered as a possible pathogen for VAP in critically ill pediatric patients. Empiric antibiotic choice should include agents that are active against S. maltophilia in patients who are deteriorating on broad spectrum beta-lactam antimicrobial agents.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.72 no.3
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• pp.293-301
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• 2012

Background: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) requires prompt and appropriate treatment. Since methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a frequent pathogen in VAP, rapid identification of it, is pivotal. Our aim was to evaluate the utility of quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) as a useful method for etiologic diagnoses of MRSA pneumonia. Methods: We performed qPCR for mecA, S. aureus-specific femA-SA, and S. epidermidis-specific femA-SE genes from bronchoalveolar lavage or bronchial washing samples obtained from clinically-suspected VAP. Molecular identification of MRSA was based on the presence of the mecA and femA-SA gene, with the absence of the femA-SE gene. To compensate for the experimental and clinical conditions, we spiked an internal control in the course of DNA extraction. We estimated number of colony-forming units per mL (CFU/mL) of MRSA samples through a standard curve of a serially-diluted reference MRSA strain. We compared the threshold cycle (Ct) value with the microbiologic results of MRSA. Results: We obtained the mecA gene standard curve, which showed the detection limit of the mecA gene to be 100 fg, which corresponds to a copy number of 30. We chose cut-off Ct values of 27.94 (equivalent to $1{\times}10^4$ CFU/mL) and 21.78 (equivalent to $1{\times}10^5$ CFU/mL). The sensitivity and specificity of our assay were 88.9% and 88.9% respectively, when compared with quantitative cultures. Conclusion: Our results were valuable for diagnosing and identifying pathogens involved in VAP. We believe our modified qPCR is an appropriate tool for the rapid diagnosis of clinical pathogens regarding patients in the intensive care unit.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.68 no.3
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• pp.162-167
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• 2010

Background: To date, there are few data on the risk factors for severe cases and deaths associated with the 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza A. Here, we describe the clinical and epidemiologic characteristics of patients hospitalized for pneumonia and identify those factors associated with the development of major complications (MC). Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 41 cases of pneumonia admitted to a university-affiliated tertiary hospital between Aug 26 and Dec 10, 2009, and who had confirmed H1N1 influenza A based on real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase-chain-reaction assay. There were 7,962 patients that fit these criteria. We compared the clinical features and demographic characteristics of patients who developed MC to with those who did not develop MC. Results: During the study period, 10 patients developed MC (required admission to the intensive care unit, n=10; required ventilator therapy, n=6; death, n=4). Patients with MC were significantly older than those without MC and more frequently had underlying medical conditions (90.0% vs 41.9%, p-value <0.01). In the patients with developed MC, the median $PaO_2/FiO_2$ ratio of 230.0 (145.0~347.3) at admission and pneumonia severity index (PSI) score of 141.5 (88.3~158.5) were higher than patients without MC. However, no differences were observed in laboratory findings or in viral shedding between the 2 groups. Conclusion: In hospitalized pneumonia patients of 2009 H1N1 influenza, old age, a history of malignancy, initial hypoxemia, $PaO_2/FiO_2$ ratio, and PSI score appear to be risk factor significantly related to developing MC. These findings might be the basis to influence strategies for admitting patients to an intensive or intermediate care unit and for pre-emptive antiviral therapy.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.21 no.11
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• pp.1256-1264
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• 2020

Objective: Lung segmentation using volumetric quantitative computed tomography (CT) analysis may help predict outcomes of patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between CT volumetric quantitative analysis and prognosis in patients with COVID-19. Materials and Methods: CT images from patients diagnosed with COVID-19 from February 18 to April 15, 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. CT with a negative finding, failure of quantitative analysis, or poor image quality was excluded. CT volumetric quantitative analysis was performed by automated volumetric methods. Patients were stratified into two risk groups according to CURB-65: mild (score of 0-1) and severe (2-5) pneumonia. Outcomes were evaluated according to the critical event-free survival (CEFS). The critical events were defined as mechanical ventilator care, ICU admission, or death. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards analyses were used to evaluate the relationship between the variables and prognosis. Results: Eighty-two patients (mean age, 63.1 ± 14.5 years; 42 females) were included. In the total cohort, male sex (hazard ratio [HR], 9.264; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.021-42.457; p = 0.004), C-reactive protein (CRP) (HR, 1.080 per mg/dL; 95% CI, 1.010-1.156; p = 0.025), and COVID-affected lung proportion (CALP) (HR, 1.067 per percentage; 95% CI, 1.033-1.101; p < 0.001) were significantly associated with CEFS. CRP (HR, 1.164 per mg/dL; 95% CI, 1.006-1.347; p = 0.041) was independently associated with CEFS in the mild pneumonia group (n = 54). Normally aerated lung proportion (NALP) (HR, 0.872 per percentage; 95% CI, 0.794-0.957; p = 0.004) and NALP volume (NALPV) (HR, 1.002 per mL; 95% CI, 1.000-1.004; p = 0.019) were associated with a lower risk of critical events in the severe pneumonia group (n = 28). Conclusion: CRP in the mild pneumonia group; NALP and NALPV in the severe pneumonia group; and sex, CRP, and CALP in the total cohort were independently associated with CEFS in patients with COVID-19.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.105-110
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• 2011

Purpose: Chest injuries in multiple trauma patients are major predisposing factor for increased length of stay in intensive care unit, prolonged mechanical ventilator, and respiratory complications such as pneumonia. The aim of this study is the evaluation of lung injury score as a risk factor for prolonged management in intensive care unit (ICU). Methods: Between June to August in 2011, 46 patients admitted to shock and trauma center in our hospital and 24 patients had associated chest damage without traumatic brain injury. Retrospectively, we calculated injury severity score (ISS), lung injury score, and the number of fractured ribs and performed nonparametric correlation analysis with length of stay in ICU and mechanical ventilator support. Results: Calculated lung injury score(<48 hours) was median 1(0-3) and ISS was median 30(8-38) in study population. They had median 2(0-14) fractured ribs. There were 2 bilateral fractures and 2 flail chest. Ventilator support was needed in 11(45.8%) of them for median 39 hours(6-166). The ISS of ventilator support group was median 34(24-34) and lung injury score was median 1.7(1.3-2.5). Tracheostomy was performed in one patient and it was only complicated case and ICU stay days was median 9(4-16). In correlation analysis, Lung injury score and ISS were significant with the length of stay in ICU but the number of fractured ribs and lung injury score were predicting factors for prolonged mechanical ventilator support. Conclusion: Lung injury score could be a possible prognostic factor for the prediction of increased length of stay in ICU and need for mechanical ventilator support.