Zhou J, et al. - In this prospective study conducted between December 2016 and October 2017, researchers assessed the performance of lung ultrasound combined with procalcitonin (PCT) as a diagnostic tool in mechanically ventilated subjects with symptoms suggestive of pneumonia. Participants were 124 subjects [48 in ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) group and 76 in the non-VAP group]. For the diagnosis of VAP, a sensitivity and specificity of 81.3 and 85.5%, respectively, was yielded by a positive lung ultrasound result combined with PCT of ≥0.25 ng/mL. A significantly higher area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was generated for lung ultrasound combined with PCT, as compared to that for a white blood cell count, PCT, C-reactive protein, or Clinical Pulmonary Infection Score alone. Overall, an accurate diagnosis of VAP was offered by a combination of lung ultrasound and PCT. To assist VAP diagnosis, the utility of lung ultrasound was shown.