Publications by authors named "E Volakli"
Early diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) remains a challenge due to subjective clinical criteria and the low discriminative power of diagnostic tests. We assessed whether rapid molecular diagnostics in combination with Clinically Pulmonary Index Score (CPIS) scoring, microbiological surveillance and biomarker measurements of PTX-3, SP-D, s-TREM, PTX-3, IL-1β and IL-8 in the blood or lung could improve the accuracy of VAP diagnosis and follow-up in critically ill children. : A prospective pragmatic study in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) was conducted on ventilated critically ill children divided into two groups: high and low suspicion of VAP according to modified Clinically Pulmonary Index Score (mCPIS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is one of the most common healthcare-associated infections in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs), but its definite diagnosis remains controversial. The CDC Ventilator-Associated Event (VAE) module (validated in adults) constitutes a new approach for VAP surveillance.
Design: We described epidemiological characteristics of PICU VAE cases, investigated possible risk factors, and evaluated 3 different sets of diagnostic VAE criteria.
Article Synopsis
- Limited pharmacokinetic data suggest that the currently recommended pediatric dosages of colistimethate sodium (CMS) may not provide optimal plasma concentrations, often falling below 2 mg/liter.
- A study involving 17 critically ill children showed that different dosages of CMS resulted in a range of plasma colistin concentrations, with only 10 patients achieving the target concentration of 2 mg/liter or higher.
- Factors like creatinine clearance and the presence of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) affected colistin clearance, and the higher doses administered were generally well tolerated without significant nephrotoxicity directly related to colistin.