Exhaled breath condensate in mechanically ventilated brain-injured patients with no lung injury or sepsis.

Background: The inflammatory influence of prolonged mechanical ventilation in uninjured lungs remains a matter of controversy and largely unexplored in humans. The authors investigated pulmonary inflammation by using exhaled breath condensate (EBC) in mechanically ventilated, brain-injured patients in the absence of acute lung injury or sepsis and explored the potential influence of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP).

Methods: Inflammatory EBC markers were assessed in 27 mechanically ventilated, brain-injured patients with neither acute lung injury nor sepsis and in 12 healthy and 8 brain-injured control subjects.