Changes in the lung microbiome— the communities of bacteria and other microscopic organisms found the lung— may help predict how well critically ill patients will respond to care, according to researchers. The lung microbiome may represent a novel target for preventing and treating critical illness, they said.
The researchers examined the types of lung bacteria in 91 patients who were critically ill and on a ventilator and then studied this relationship to the eventual clinical outcome. Patients with higher levels of lung bacteria one day after admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) had fewer ventilator-free days. The identity of lung microbiota —which bacteria were detected—was also predictive of ICU outcomes in these patients.
"This study adds to growing evidence that the lung microbiome plays a key role in lung disease," said James Kiley, PhD, director of the NHLBI Division of Lung Diseases. "It's important that we continue to explore the microbiome and other factors that contribute to lung disease and clinical outcomes.
The study, partly funded by NHLBI, appeared in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, a publication of the American Thoracic Society.