ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Clinical Infectious Diseases
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1593818
This article is part of the Research TopicPerspectives in Clinical Infectious Diseases: 2024/2025View all 5 articles
Comparison of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid mNGS and sputum culture in the clinical application of severe pneumonia
Provisionally accepted
- 1the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Yulin Hospital, Yulin, China
- 2The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
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Objective: The purpose of this study is to compare the clinical application value of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) mNGS and sputum culture in severe pulmonary infections, and to provide guidance for clinicians in selecting the appropriate testing method.Methods: This study collected 105 patients diagnosed with severe pneumonia, of which 55 patients who underwent BALF mNGS. We compared the pathogen detection rates, length of stay and mortality rate, treatment, and pathogen species between BALF mNGS group and sputum culture group.Results: The pathogen detection rate in BALF mNGS group was significantly higher than that in sputum culture group (P<0.0001). The length of hospital stay in the BALF mNGS group was shorter than that in the sputum group (P=0.0093). There was no statistically significant difference in mortality rate between the two groups (P=0.26). However, BALF mNGS group had a lower antibiotic usage rate than the sputum culture group (P=0.0491). According to the mNGS results, initial antipathogenic treatment was modified in 67.27% of patients. In BALF mNGS group, the main pathogens detected included Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and Haemophilus influenzae (HI). The sputum culture group mainly include: MTB, HI.Conclusion: BALF mNGS effectively and rapidly identifies pathogens, helping doctors quickly diagnose severe pneumonia pathogens. Combined with the patient's medical history, laboratory results and imaging, clinical doctors can adjust the patient's treatment plan in time. This has potential advantages in improving the cure rate of severe pneumonia patients, reducing the length of hospital stay, and improving the prognosis.
Keywords: BALF mNGS, Sputum culture, Severe pneumonia, pathogen, Treatment
Received: 14 Mar 2025; Accepted: 16 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gao, Yin, Niu, Hao, Chen and Yang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Na Gao, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Yulin Hospital, Yulin, China
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