Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42571013›Full record

Trial reportRespiratory research2026

Airway microbial compartmentalization under mechanical ventilation: a randomized pilot study comparing an endotracheal tube with suction and continuous cuff pressure control (Venner PneuX

Anna E Pilkowski, Patrick Schaal, Lienhard Leibold, Benjamin Seybold, Judith Schenz, Alexander H Dalpke, Markus A Weigand, Bachar A Cheaib, Sébastien Boutin, Mascha O Fiedler-Kalenka

Abstract readRandomized Controlled TrialComparative Study
In one paragraph

Trial report in Respiratory research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Anna E PilkowskiMedical Faculty Heidelberg, Department of Anesthesiology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany. Annaewa.pilkowski@med.uni-heidelberg.de.
Patrick SchaalMedical Faculty Heidelberg, Department of Infectious Diseases, Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Lienhard LeiboldMedical Faculty Heidelberg, Department of Infectious Diseases, Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Benjamin SeyboldMedical Faculty Heidelberg, Department of Anesthesiology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Judith SchenzMedical Faculty Heidelberg, Department of Anesthesiology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Alexander H DalpkeMedical Faculty Heidelberg, Department of Infectious Diseases, Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Markus A WeigandMedical Faculty Heidelberg, Department of Anesthesiology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Bachar A CheaibMedical Faculty Heidelberg, Department of Infectious Diseases, Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Sébastien BoutinInstitute of Medical Microbiology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
Mascha O Fiedler-KalenkaMedical Faculty Heidelberg, Department of Anesthesiology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesVentilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is driven in part by microaspiration along the endotracheal tube cuff, a process difficult to measure directly in ventilated patients. Because microbial communities differ between airway compartments, changes in their similarity over time may serve as an indirect readout of microaspiration. We assessed whether the Venner PneuX

methodsIn a prospective, randomized, single-center pilot study, 50 adults with acute respiratory failure received an ST or VT intubation. Microbial communities from five airway niches (throat, tracheal secretions, right upper, right lower, and left lower lung lobes) were sampled by 16 S rRNA sequencing at intubation (T1), after four days of ventilation (T2) and, for the tube tip, at extubation (T3). The primary outcome was the change in beta diversity (Morisita-Horn distances) between tube-associated, upper-airway, and lower-airway communities from T1 to T2.

resultsTwenty-one of 50 randomized patients had complete microbiota data sets (9 ST, 12 VT) and were comparable in demographics, comorbidities, severity, and ventilation duration. In the ST group, tube-associated communities became more similar to tracheal and lower-airway communities from T1 to T2 (e.g. TS-Tube Morisita-Horn 0.55 → 0.30, p = 0.001), while lung regions diverged from each other and from the throat (LLL-LRL 0.08 → 0.31, p = 0.003; LLL-Throat 0.30 → 0.61, p < 0.001). None of these distances changed significantly in the VT group. Lower-airway Shannon diversity declined in both groups, more in the VT group.

conclusionsStandard intubation produced progressive microbial convergence between airway compartments, while the VT system did not. The findings provide biological plausibility for previously reported VAP reductions with the VT system and show that microbiota sampling can detect device-related differences in airway community structure, warranting further investigation as an endpoint for evaluating airway devices.

trial registrationThe study is registered in the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS- Deutsches Register für klinische Studien) under the clinical trial number: DRKS00029176. The Date of Trial Registration was 07.07.2022.

Indexed as

Intubation, IntratrachealMicrobiotaPneumonia, Ventilator-AssociatedRespiration, ArtificialAgedFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPilot ProjectsProspective StudiesSuctionEndotracheal tubePulmonary microbiomeSubglottic suctionVenner PneuX®Ventilator-associated pneumonia

Identifiers

PMID42571013
PMCPMC13452131

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.