TABLE 1.
Characteristics of lower respiratory tract specimens examined in this studya
| Characteristic | Finding | No. of specimens
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Expectorated sputa (n = 26) | Tracheal aspirates (n = 38) | ||
| Laboratory | A | 6 | 6 |
| B | 4 | 9 | |
| C | 5 | 10 | |
| D | 5 | 5 | |
| E | 6 | 8 | |
| Polymorphonuclear cells | ≥10/×100 field | 17 | 22 |
| No. of different morphotypes seen on Gram stainb | 0 | 8 | 11 |
| 1 | 10 | 40 | |
| 2 | 12 | 35 | |
| 3 | 18 | 24 | |
| 4 | 13 | 4 | |
| 5 | 16 | 0 | |
| ≥6 | 1 | 0 | |
| No. of different organisms recovered in cultureb | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| 1 | 4 | 23 | |
| 2 | 3 | 33 | |
| 3 | 21 | 14 | |
| 4 | 12 | 20 | |
| 5 | 11 | 5 | |
| ≥6 | 25 | 12 | |
| Potential pathogen presentb | Haemophilus spp. | 24 | 8 |
| S. aureus | 17 | 20 | |
| P. aeruginosa | 3 | 18 | |
| Klebsiella spp. | |||
| Enterobacter spp. | 15 | 21 | |
a
Data restricted to specimens judged to be representative based on screening for squamous epithelial cells on Gram stains.
b
The denominator in these categories was 78 with expectorated sputa and 114 with tracheal aspirates, since triplicate determinations were made with the 26 representative sputa and 38 representative tracheal aspirates.