Exhaled Breath Condensate Analysis in Mechanically Ventilated Patients

Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is a product of gas exchange in the lungs. It contains plethora of substances of possible diagnostic value and its composition is likely to change rapidly in response to the development of pathological conditions, especially in the lungs.

Mechanically ventilated intensive care patients with various pathological conditions will be sampled for a small amount of EBC from the ventilator circuit and for venous blood. A sampling method not affecting relevant parameters of mechanical ventilation will be developed and standardised.

EBC samples will be frozen and after processing, proteomic analyses will be performed using mass spectrometry. In the blood sample, corresponding changes in the DNA, RNA, proteins, and metabolites will be studied using molecular biological methods. Resulting profiles will be correlated with routinely monitored parameters (such as inflammation markers, microbiological findings and mechanical ventilation parameters) with the aim of finding patterns corresponding to the early stages of various pathological conditions focusing on lung tissue. Identification of patterns specific to initial stages of lung and other organ pathologies would enable their early treatment possibly shortening mechanical ventilation/ICU stay and reducing morbidity/mortality.

Inclusion criteria

Intensive care setting Mechanical ventilation Ventilator/ventilator circuit technically suitable for sampling of exhaled breath condensate

Exclusion criteria

Mechanical ventilation challenging to the extent that the insertion of the sampling kit into the ventilator circuit would substantially increase the risk for respiratory deterioration