Point-of-care (POC) diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis (BV) using VGTest™ ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) in a routine ambulatory care gynecology clinic

• Published in: Archives of gynecology and obstetrics 2015-08, Vol.292 (2), p.355-362
• Main Authors: Blankenstein, T., Lytton, S. D., Leidl, B., Atweh, E., Friese, K., Mylonas, I.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Ambulatory care; Ambulatory Care - methods; Body Fluids; Cadaverine - analysis; Endocrinology; Female; General Gynecology; Gynecology; Human Genetics; Humans; Ions; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Methylamines - analysis; Middle Aged; Obstetrics/Perinatology/Midwifery; Point-of-Care Systems; Putrescine - analysis; Sensitivity and Specificity; Spectrum Analysis - methods; Vaginosis, Bacterial - diagnosis; Vaginosis, Bacterial - microbiology
• ISSN: 0932-0067; 1432-0711
• DOI: 10.1007/s00404-014-3613-x

Purpose A new CE-marked portable desktop ion mobility spectrometer (VGTest) was used for detection of malodorous biogenic amines indicative of bacterial vaginosis (BV). This study aimed to assess the performance of this testing method for the first time in a routine ambulatory care clinic and to determine the relative levels of biogenic amines in vaginal fluid of BV. Methods Vaginal and cervical swabs ( n  = 57) were surveyed for infections. Cases of BV ( n  = 18) confirmed positive according to “Amsel” criteria and normal controls ( n  = 39) showing no infection under clinical examination and testing negative in wet mount microscopy were included in the IMS analysis. Results The trimethylamine (TMA) content in vaginal fluid of the BV-positive cases, AUC TMA /AUC Total [mean 0.215 (range 0.15–0.35)] was significantly higher than normal controls [mean 0.06 (range 0.048–0.07)] p