Randomized controlled clinical trial evaluating multiplex polymerase chain reaction for pathogen identification and therapy adaptation in critical care patients with pulmonary or abdominal sepsis (original) (raw)

Clinical impact of a commercially available multiplex PCR system for rapid detection of pathogens in patients with presumed sepsis

BMC Infectious Diseases, 2009

Background: Timely identification of pathogens is crucial to minimize mortality in patients with severe infections. Detection of bacterial and fungal pathogens in blood by nucleic acid amplification promises to yield results faster than blood cultures (BC). We analyzed the clinical impact of a commercially available multiplex PCR system in patients with suspected sepsis. Methods: Blood samples from patients with presumed sepsis were cultured with the Bactec 9240™ system (Becton Dickinson, Heidelberg, Germany) and aliquots subjected to analysis with the LightCycler ® SeptiFast ® (SF) Test (Roche Diagnostics, Mannheim, Germany) at a tertiary care centre. For samples with PCR-detected pathogens, the actual impact on clinical management was determined by chart review. Furthermore a comparison between the time to a positive blood culture result and the SF result, based on a fictive assumption that it was done either on a once or twice daily basis, was made. Results: Of 101 blood samples from 77 patients, 63 (62%) yielded concordant negative results, 14 (13%) concordant positive and 9 (9%) were BC positive only. In 14 (13%) samples pathogens were detected by SF only, resulting in adjustment of antibiotic therapy in 5 patients (7,7% of patients). In 3 samples a treatment adjustment would have been made earlier resulting in a total of 8 adjustments in all 101 samples (8%). Conclusion: The addition of multiplex PCR to conventional blood cultures had a relevant impact on clinical management for a subset of patients with presumed sepsis. Background Early adequate antibiotic treatment improves the outcome of patients with sepsis [1-5]. Even if broad spectrum antibiotics are used empirically, adjustments of antimi-crobial therapy may be necessary. Generally adjustments are based on the results of positive blood or other cultures that are available after 8 to 48 hours [6].

Evaluation of a polymerase chain reaction assay for pathogen detection in septic patients under routine condition: an observational study

PloS one, 2012

Treatment of septic shock relies on appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Current culture based methods deliver final results after days, which may delay potentially lifesaving adjustments in antimicrobial therapy. This study was undertaken to compare PCR with blood culture results under routine conditions regarding 1. impact on antimicrobial therapy, and 2. time to result, in patients with presumed sepsis. This was an observational study in a 50 beds ICU of a university hospital. In 245 patients with suspected sepsis, 311 concomitant blood cultures and blood for multiplex PCR (VYOO(®)) were obtained. 45 of 311 blood cultures (14.5%) and 94 of 311 PCRs (30.1%) were positive. However, blood culture or microbiological sampling from the presumed site of infection rarely confirmed PCR results and vice versa. Median time to positivity and interquartile range were 24.2 (18.0, 27.5) hours for the PCR and 68 (52.2, 88.5) hours for BC (p<0.01). PCR median time to result was dependent on tech...

Development and first evaluation of a novel multiplex real-time PCR on whole blood samples for rapid pathogen identification in critically ill patients with sepsis

European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology, 2018

Molecular tests may enable early adjustment of antimicrobial therapy and be complementary to blood culture (BC) which has imperfect sensitivity in critically ill patients. We evaluated a novel multiplex real-time PCR assay to diagnose bloodstream pathogens directly in whole blood samples (BSI-PCR). BSI-PCR included 11 species- and four genus-specific PCRs, a molecular Gram-stain PCR, and two antibiotic resistance markers. We collected 5 mL blood from critically ill patients simultaneously with clinically indicated BC. Microbial DNA was isolated using the Polaris method followed by automated DNA extraction. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated using BC as reference. BSI-PCR was evaluated in 347 BC-positive samples (representing up to 50 instances of each pathogen covered by the test) and 200 BC-negative samples. Bacterial species-specific PCR sensitivities ranged from 65 to 100%. Sensitivity was 26% for the Gram-positive PCR, 32% for the Gram-negative PCR, and ranged 0 to 7% f...

Improved detection of blood stream pathogens by real-time PCR in severe sepsis

Intensive Care Medicine, 2010

Objective Evaluation of the technical and diagnostic feasibility of commercial multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detection of blood stream infections in a cohort of intensive care unit (ICU) patients with severe sepsis, performed in addition to conventional blood cultures. Design Dual-center cohort study. Setting Surgical ICU of two university hospitals. Patients and participants One hundred eight critically ill patients fulfilling the American College of Chest Physicians/Society of Critical Care Medicine (ACCP/SCCM) severe sepsis criteria were included. Interventions None. Measurements and results PCR results obtained in 453 blood samples from 108 patients were compared with corresponding blood culture results. PCR resulted in a twofold higher positivity rate when compared with conventional blood culture (BC) testing (114 versus 58 positive samples). In 40 out of 58 PCR positive assays the results of the corresponding blood cultures were identical to microorganisms detected by PCR. In 18 samples PCR and BC yielded discrepant results. Compared with conventional blood culture the sensitivity and specificity of PCR was 0.69 and 0.81, respectively. Further evaluation of PCR results against a constructed gold standard including conventional microbiological test results from other significant patient specimen (such as bronchio-alveolar lavage fluid, urine, swabs) and additionally generated clinical and laboratory information yielded sensitivity of 0.83 and specificity of 0.93. Conclusions Our cohort study demonstrates improved pathogen detection using PCR findings in addition to conventional blood culture testing. PCR testing provides increased sensitivity of blood stream infection. Studies addressing utility including therapeutic decision-making, outcome, and cost-benefit following diagnostic application of PCR tests are needed to further assess its value in the clinical setting.

Incremental value of multiplex real-time PCR for the early diagnosis of sepsis in the emergency department

Swiss medical weekly, 2014

Delayed recognition of sepsis and inappropriate initial antibiotic therapy are associated with increased mortality and morbidity. The early detection of the causative organism in sepsis is an unmet clinical need. A novel multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (MRT-PCR) (SeptiFast®) technique may provide the microbiological diagnosis within six hours. We assessed the diagnostic accuracy of blood cultures and MRT-PCR in a comparative diagnostic cohort study in 110 consecutive adult patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with suspected sepsis. We collected 205 corresponding PCR samples and blood culture (BC) pairs from the 110 patients. There was moderate to high concordance between PCR and BC with 181 (88%) matching and 24 (12%) mismatching samples. The diagnostic accuracy of MRT-PCR in detecting sepsis and its causative organism was comparable to that of BCs. The additional use of MRT-PCR significantly reduced the time to microbiological diagnosis as compared to ...

Multiplex PCR To Diagnose Bloodstream Infections in Patients Admitted from the Emergency Department with Sepsis

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 2010

Sepsis is caused by a heterogeneous group of infectious etiologies. Early diagnosis and the provision of appropriate antimicrobial therapy correlate with positive clinical outcomes. Current microbiological techniques are limited in their diagnostic capacities and timeliness. Multiplex PCR has the potential to rapidly identify bloodstream infections and fill this diagnostic gap. We identified patients from two large academic hospital emergency departments with suspected sepsis. The results of a multiplex PCR that could detect 25 bacterial and fungal pathogens were compared to those of blood culture. The results were analyzed with respect to the likelihood of infection, sepsis severity, the site of infection, and the effect of prior antibiotic therapy. We enrolled 306 subjects with suspected sepsis. Of these, 43 were later determined not to have infectious etiologies. Of the remaining 263 subjects, 70% had sepsis, 16% had severe sepsis, and 14% had septic shock. The majority had a definite infection (41.5%) or a probable infection (30.7%). Blood culture and PCR performed similarly with samples from patients with clinically defined infections (areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves, 0.64 and 0.60, respectively). However, blood culture identified more cases of septicemia than PCR among patients with an identified infectious etiology (66 and 46, respectively; P ‫؍‬ 0.0004). The two tests performed similarly when the results were stratified by sepsis severity or infection site. Blood culture tended to detect infections more frequently among patients who had previously received antibiotics (P ‫؍‬ 0.06). Conversely, PCR identified an additional 24 organisms that blood culture failed to detect. Real-time multiplex PCR has the potential to serve as an adjunct to conventional blood culture, adding diagnostic yield and shortening the time to pathogen identification.

Identification of the most common pathogenic bacteria in patients with suspected sepsis by multiplex PCR

The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries, 2014

Introduction: Staphylococcus aureus, coagulase-negative staphylococci, Enterococcus spp., Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumanii have been found to be the most prevalent bacteremia-causing bacteria in patients with septicemia. Early detection of bloodstream infection (BSI) is crucial in the clinical setting. A multiplex PCR method for identification of these agents in clinical samples has been developed in parallel by conventional microbiological methods. Methodology: The target genes selected for each of the organisms were very specific for designing primers. Design of primers was done using Mega4, Allel ID6, Oligo6, and Oligo analyzer software. The test comprises a universal PCR from the 16S rDNA gene and multiplex PCR from the rpoB, gyrA, sss, and chromosome X (as an internal control). Results: The sensitivity and specificity for universal PCR and multiplex PCR in comparison with BC were 83.87% and 91.58%, and 74.19% and 91.58%, respectively. The positive predictive value (PPV) and the negative predictive value (NPV) for these two PCRs were 76.47% and 94.57%, and 74.19% and 91.58%, respectively. PCR failed to identify bacteria which were found conventionally in only 3.96% and 6.34% of the cases by universal and multiplex PCR (mostly bacteria not included in the PCR cassette). In 6.34% of the cases, multiplex PCR afforded identification of bacteria, but BC showed no bacteria in the sample. Conclusions: The multiplex PCR approach facilitates the detection of bacteremia in blood samples within a few hours. Rapid detection of bacteria by multiplex PCR appears to be a valuable tool, allowing earlier pathogen-adopted antimicrobial therapy in critically ill patients.

Evaluation of pathogen detection from clinical samples by real-time polymerase chain reaction using a sepsis pathogen DNA detection kit

Critical Care, 2010

Introduction: Sepsis is a serious medical condition that requires rapidly administered, appropriate antibiotic treatment. Conventional methods take three or more days for final pathogen identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing. We organized a prospective observational multicenter study in three study sites to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy and potential clinical utility of the SeptiFast system, a multiplex pathogen detection system used in the clinical setting to support early diagnosis of bloodstream infections. Methods: A total of 212 patients, suspected of having systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) caused by bacterial or fungal infection, were enrolled in the study. From these patients, 407 blood samples were taken and blood culture analysis was performed to identify pathogens. Whole blood was also collected for DNA Detection Kit analysis immediately after its collection for blood culture. The results of the DNA Detection Kit, blood culture and other culture tests were compared. The chosen antimicrobial treatment in patients whose samples tested positive in the DNA Detection Kit and/or blood culture analysis was examined to evaluate the effect of concomitant antibiotic exposure on the results of these analyses. Results: SeptiFast analysis gave a positive result for 55 samples, while 43 samples were positive in blood culture analysis. The DNA Detection Kit identified a pathogen in 11.3% (45/400) of the samples, compared to 8.0% (32/400) by blood culture analysis. Twenty-three pathogens were detected by SeptiFast only; conversely, this system missed five episodes of clinically significant bacteremia (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), 2; Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 1; Klebsiella spp, 1; Enterococcus faecium, 1). The number of samples that tested positive was significantly increased by combining the result of the blood culture analysis with those of the DNA Detection Kit analysis (P = 0.01). Among antibiotic pre-treated patients (prevalence, 72%), SeptiFast analysis detected more bacteria/fungi, and was less influenced by antibiotic exposure, compared with blood culture analysis (P = 0.02).