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Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia
in Surgical Patients: Focus on
Pathogenesis, Diagnosis & Prevention

By Charles Verwaest
September 2002
Leuven University Press
ISBN: 90-5867-234-4
222 pages, 6 1/8" x 9 3/8"
$79.50 Paper Original

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Infectious acquired in the Intensive Care Unit are of daily concern for the intensivist. Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a nosocomial, usually bacterial pneumonia that seems both frequent and often deadly in the critically ill patient. Despite the contagious progress in understanding the pathogenesis and risk factors for VAP, prevention remains a thankless task. Bacteria may gain entrance into the lungs by several mechanisms. Since aspiration of oropharyngeal contents is considered the most common route of entry for VAP, measures reducing the burden of bacterial colonization of the aerodigestive tract may ultimately reduce the incidence of VAP.

Contents of this doctoral dissertation include: background information such as the magnitude of the infectious problem, pathogenesis, microbiology, risk factors and diagnosis; aims of the study; prevention of VAP in surgical patients; Pathogenesis and diagnosis of VAP in surgical patients; general conclusions.

Pulmonary Medicine
Acta Biomedica Lovaniensia No. 263