Table 1 Clinical characteristics of study patients and ventilatory parameters at time of herpes simplex type 1 (HSV-1) isolation from tracheal aspirate (TA) or bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL).

Date

September 2001

November 2001

November 2001

February 2002

General parameters:

Age

45

19

84

78

Gender

♀

♂

♀

♂

Underlying disease

nasopharyngeal carcinoma

hypertension

heart failure

Reason of admission

pneumonia of unknown origin; respiratory failure

septic shock; ALI/respiratory failure

aspiration pneumonia; respiratory failure and shock

Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia

Comorbidity

heart failure

heart failure

prior coronary artery surgery

Prior chemotherapy/radiotherapy

+

Duration of mechanical ventilation prior to isolation, d

13

5

10

1

Duration mechanical ventilation after isolation, d

8

1

11

6

Length of stay ICU, d

26

8

21

42

Infectious parameters:

Duration between sampling and reporting positive cultures, d

5

1

1

1

Respiratory source of HSV-1

BAL

TA

TA

TA

Other sources of HSV-1

throat, skin

throat

Leukocytes in Gram stain of BAL/TA fluids

few lymphocytes

few

moderate

few

Bacteria in culture

S. aureus ++, C. albicans +

C. albicans ++

multiresistant P. aeruginosa, E. coli

no micro-organisms

Serology

high titre IgG

Body temperature, °C

37.4

36.2

37.2

38.2

Blood leukocytes, × 10⁹/L

16.2

4.5

9.5

16.4

Antiviral therapy

acyclovir

acyclovir

Treatment with steroids

prednison

Respiratory parameters:

Arterial PO₂/inspiratory FO₂, mm Hg

345

195

190

98

Plateau airway pressure, cm H₂O

33

22

22

20

Positive end-expiratory airway pressure, cm H₂O

12

7

7

5

Total respiratory compliance, mL/cm H₂O

21

31

31

Radiographic score

4

4

3

4

Lung injury score

2.5

2.5

2.2

2.3

Central venous pressure, mm Hg

10

8

Pulmonary leak index, × 10^-3/min

10.5

7.5

8.0

14.0

Duration between sampling and PLI, d

0

0

1

2