Table 1. Characteristics of studies included in the meta-analysis.

Study	Country	Gold standard	Design	Age (y)	Patients (n)	Prevalence (%)	Type of infection	Sample	Microorganism criteria (BALF culture)	Assay method	Cutoff (pg/ml)	TP	FP	FN	TN
Gibot et al, 2004 [4]	France	C+R+M	PR	≥18	148	57	CAP/VAP	mini-BALF	≥103 CFU/ml	Immunoblot technique	5	82	6	2	58
Determann et al, 2005 [20]	Netherlands	C+R+M	PR	Adult	27	30	VAP	BALF	≥104 CFU/ml	ELISA	200	7	3	1	16
Gibot et al, 2007 [21]	France	C+M	PR	NA	50	62	VAP	BALF	≥103 CFU/ml	Immunoblot technique	5	29	2	2	17
Horonenko et al, 2007 [22]	USA	C+R+M	PR	≥18	24	58	VAP	BALF	>103 CFU/ml	ELISA	7	14	9	0	1
Huh et al, 2008 [23]	Korea	C+R+M	PR	≥18	80	36	Bacterial or Fungal pneumonia	BALF	>104 CFU/ml	ELISA	184	25	5	4	46
El Solh et al, 2008 [24]	USA	C+R+M	PR	NA	75	51	Pulmonary aspiration syndromes	BALF	>104 CFU/ml	ELISA	250	25	3	13	34
Anand et al, 2009 [25]	USA	C+R+M	PR	Adult	40	48	VAP	BALF	>103 CFU/ml	ELISA	200	8	2	11	19
Ramirez et al, 2011 [9]	Spain	C+R+M	PR	NA	21	76	VAP/HAP	mini-BALF	≥103 CFU/ml	ELISA	900	13	1	3	4
Palazzo et al, 2012 [26]	USA	C+R+M	PR	>18	45	42	VAP	BALF	≥103 CFU/ml, or ≥102 CFU/ml of PSB culture	ELISA	204	15	20	4	6

ICU, intensive care unit; C, clinical; R, radiological; M, microbiological; PR, prospective recruitment; NA, not available; CAP, community acquired pneumonia; VAP, ventilator associated pneumonia; HAP, hospital acquired pneumonia; BALF, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid; CFU, colony-forming units; PSB, protected specimen brush; ELISA, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; TP, true-positive; FP, false-positive; FN, false-negative; TN, true-negative.