Diagnosis and treatment of nosocomial pneumonia.

: Nosocomial pneumonia (NP) occurs frequently and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Its diagnosis, however, is difficult. The combination of clinical, radiographical and microbiological criteria may overestimate the true incidence of the infection. Although recently introduced techniques, such as bronchoscopy, probably increase the specificity for diagnosing NP, it remains to be established whether the use of these techniques improves patient outcome or decreases unnecessary antibiotic use.